BY SAM HOWSON
Why do Church of England apologies often feel like empty words? In this interview, I sit down with the Reverend Stephen Kuhrt to discuss the systemic failures exposed in his book, Safeguarding the Institution: How the Culture of the Church of England facilitates abuse.
00:00 Arrival: Why Safeguarding Actually Matters
02:49 Shared Anger: Our Hopes for This Conversation
05:32 Stephen’s Story: The First Safeguarding Shock
10:42 Silencing Pain: How Church Culture Enables Abuse
16:34 The Bryn Hughes Case and Institutional Backlash
20:34 Weaponised Process: Being Investigated for Speaking Out
24:50 The Personal Cost: Surviving Suspension and Pressure
28:23 “Constructive Dismissal”: How the System Fights Back
31:37 Systemic Rot: Why the CofE Keeps Failing Victims
33:57 The Theological Blind Spot in Leadership
42:15 Is the Church Safe? Navigating Trust Issues
51:30 Accountability: What Needs to Change at the Top?
1:02:15 Moving Forward: Hope for True Reformation
1:18:26 Conclusion
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Safeguarding the Institution 
While I fully agree with Revd Kuhrt, it needs to be said that occasionally the C of E gets it wrong and over-reacts in favour of the complainant without proper investigation or due process. The recent case involving the late Bishop George Bell of Chichester is a case in point. See R H Grayson, Presumption Of Guilt: The Church’s Flawed Case Against Bishop George Bell, Ekklesia (2025). This was an example of an abuse of power, albeit from a rather different point of view.
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