I began writing Safeguarding the Institution: How the culture of the Church of England facilitates abuse five years ago. It was inspired by watching the BBC documentary Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret about the abuse by Peter Ball, the Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester and the terrible handling of this by the Church of England. What disturbed me was that every aspect of the case resonated with my experience of safeguarding within the Church of England and, specifically, the way that, in every case I had encountered, as little as possible was done for as long as possible.
As I reflected upon this, I realised that more thought needed to be given to why this was so. Most of the current emphasis on improving safeguarding within the Church of England is placed upon improving its protocols and procedures. These have improved immeasurably in recent years and yet terrible safeguarding scandals continue to emerge.
The church’s culture
The reason for the continuing failures in safeguarding within the Church of England is because, as the American management consultant Peter Drucker said: ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. I realised that a lifetime in the Church of England and two decades of ordained ministry had exposed me to a great deal of its culture and highlighted the need for me to be honest about the link between this and the church’s terrible safeguarding.
This awareness was only increased by what happened to me personally as I began to make further waves about safeguarding failures within my diocese of Southwark. The story of my suspension between February and July 2021 is told elsewhere. It was a highly unpleasant experience but also a vital one showing me just how viciously those in authority within the Church of England can behave towards anyone that threatens the institutional status quo.
The nature of the book
The book begins by seeking to be honest about the crisis that the Church of England is facing in regard to its safeguarding and how this forms part of a wider crisis in regard to its credibility and competence. It is clear about the inescapably communal nature of abuse, and how often communities at parish, diocesan and national levels are colluding with offenders through the cultural norms that have been allowed develop within them.
The book then examines a number of aspects of the culture of the Church of England, including:
- the pragmatic and passive aggressive approach taken to ‘solving’ problems
- the ethos of wilful incompetence
- the captivity to fear
- the inconsistency in regard to standards of behaviour
- the institutional dishonesty about sex and clergy accountability
The book then turns to solutions examining the nature of prophetic ministry and the centrality within this of truthfulness. Its final chapter is a lengthy manifesto for change within the Church of England showing how, in parishes, dioceses, theological colleges/courses and at a national level, a culture of fear and dishonesty needs to give way to a culture of truthfulness built upon proper confidence in the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
A positive message
There is much in the book that will upset people, particularly those deeply invested in the Church of England. Acknowledging the truth about how dreadful much of the church has become is painful. But it is also the path to its restoration. The core thesis of the book is that the culture of the Church of England is currently only invested in its continuation as an institution. This is disastrous for its ministry and mission and catastrophic for its safeguarding. The latter is therefore only the most serious outcome of the church’s widespread dysfunctionality. By the same token, however, the urgent changes needed to safeguarding hold out significant hope for the Church of England overall. They form the key to the church moving beyond its current crisis of credibility to a place where it no longer facilitates abuse but facilitates instead, more and more people’s experience of the life-transforming love of God in Jesus Christ.
Order Safeguarding the Institution: How the Culture of the Church of England facilitates abuse here.
Safeguarding the Institution 