On 20 March, Bishop Philip gave the Presidential Address at Diocesan Synod, reflecting on the journey our diocese has been on, through the lens of Lent.
Let me start by saying that this Presidential Address is likely to be slightly shorter than my last, which may be a relief to you. It’s not that we’ve not been busy as a diocese – we have – and it remains a real treat and joy to visit our parishes week after week and to see just what is happening in so many different places and in so many different ways to give loving expression to the good news of Jesus. It’s more that it’s not all that long since last we met, and much of what we’ve been doing since I told you about then.
I do want to bring you up to speed with some things have been happening, however, and I want to do that through the lens of Lent, this vital season which we are now in. I say vital because Lent brings us face to face with our frailties, with our sin, and it’s only as we reflect on our own sin that we realise just how much we need a saviour, which is why Lent prepares us so well for Holy Week and Easter.
Lent brings us face to face with our frailties. You can hardly look at the world today and be ignorant of the dangers of human frailty. How much we need a saviour. But of course the Church is not exempt from that frailty and I want to begin by reflecting on two ways in which our frailty as a Church has been very evident – and indeed we’re going to think about ways in which that frailty is being addressed too.
There continues to be much very understandable concern about safeguarding in the Church of England, after the publication of the Makin Review last autumn and Archbishop Justin’s subsequent resignation – and further events which followed too. Unsurprisingly safeguarding formed a significant part of the agenda facing General Synod last month. You’ll be getting a general update about General Synod later, from Julie Maxwell, and you have a helpful digest of its business from another of our reps, James Pitkin, but I want to focus on the particular proposals that came to us around independent safeguarding – which were known as Options 3 & 4 – broadly speaking the latter involving a greater level of independent operation than the former. We eventually went for what might be called Option 3.5 which committed us to Option 3 but also committed us to explore Option 4.
Now there were and probably are differing views among us about the decision that we took. I voted for Option 3.5 because I was concerned that full independence – in other words having our own safeguarding team employed by and answerable to another agency – might hinder members of the Board of Finance, as charity trustees, from fulfilling their trustee obligations. Others took a different view and that’s fine. We need a healthy debate.
But my more general point I want to make is that in the wake of the scandals of the last few months, we should beware of a false narrative building up that suggests that the Church of England is hopeless at safeguarding. Genuinely, I do not believe that to be the case. I don’t want to be complacent for a minute because complacency is the great enemy of effective safeguarding, but I do think that our practice of safeguarding across the church, and in this Diocese, is better than it has ever been – and we need to go on striving to make it better.
In support of that I want to cite the annual report of INEQE, the organisation contracted to audit safeguarding practice diocese by diocese. It thus possesses a very substantial body of evidence on the state of safeguarding across our church. This is what Jim Gamble, their CEO says,
A year and a half ago, my team and I began our independent audits of safeguarding in the Church of England. Like many external observers, I was initially deeply cynical about the Church’s capacity to learn from past failures.
However, as we gathered evidence and listened to those within the Church—from worshippers and staff to some victims and survivors—we observed a positive and improving trend and the potential for real change.
We examined over 4,000 safeguarding documents and engaged with over 5,500 individuals. In doing so we found that the vast majority of those worshipping or working in Church environments feel safe and respected; safeguarding is becoming embedded, and a growing number feel the culture is improving, with many now feeling empowered to challenge authority.
This progress is largely thanks to the blended Diocesan Safeguarding Teams who bring valuable experience and networks from statutory safeguarding backgrounds, along with the dedicated work of Parish Safeguarding Officers and cathedral volunteers. Supported by the National Safeguarding Team, they are the professionals now driving safeguarding activity…. The Church of yesterday is not the Church of today.
I certainly want to express my own thanks to our excellent safeguarding team under Jackie Rowlands leadership and the very many parish safeguarding officers across our Diocese who do so much to make our Church a safer place. Thank you.
The second way in which our human frailty has been exposed has been in the life of our Cathedral. I’m not going to go into too much detail, partly because there are sensitive human issues – and human beings – at the heart of what’s happened, but also because the life of the Cathedral isn’t strictly the business of this Synod – although of course we all care about it.
But in summary I commissioned a Review of one aspect of the Cathedral’s life, the confidential findings of which were delivered to me last month. There is a summary of those in the public domain and as consequence Dean Catherine decided to step aside from her leadership responsibilities ahead of her formal retirement on May 1st. Whilst the failings were revealed were significant, the reasons were complex, and certain not the fault of any one individual, Catherine took a very honourable step in taking responsibility, as the one tasked with overall leadership of the Cathedral.
But it’s important to say that – just as with safeguarding – the Cathedral was very far from being a hopeless case. Indeed, it has flourished in many ways under Catherine’s leadership – which only makes the events of the last year or so all the more poignant – and I honour her for all that she has given us, and I do hope that in due time there will be the opportunity to thank her properly for that.
At the moment the interviews for a new Dean are scheduled to take place in October with the aim of having him or her in place early next year. Please do pray for that process, for our Cathedral, and for Canon Roly Riem, in the meantime as Interim Dean. I’m very grateful indeed to Roly for taking on those responsibilities.
So yes, we are frail, and yet in the face of our frailties we put our faith in our God who leads us on in his faithfulness. That’s why tonight we will be spending significant time in reporting and consulting on the progress we’re making in Walking the Wessex Way, not so much those elements of the strategy for which the Bishop’s staff team is already committed to deliver, such as the development of patterns of ministry and clergy well-being, but the three major pieces of work for which we hope to attract significant central funding: our Benefice Development and Growing Rural Parishes programmes, and the two specific projects to serve two of our major urban centres: Serving Southampton and Believing in Bournemouth. More on this later in the meeting, but I am very grateful to Colin and his team for the substantial work they have already put into this.
We’re also making progress in that area of the development of ministry which I mentioned just now, through the establishment of our new Mission and Ministry Council. I’m happy to report too that I continue to see a steady stream of people offering for training for ordination which is not only exciting for them – and for me! – but is also a good indicator of life and vitality in our Diocese.
And tonight I’m delighted to tell you that I have been told formally that the Dioceses’ Commission have given their approval for the appointment of a new Bishop of Basingstoke, so that process will run from now through the summer with a new bishop being consecrated in October – a year on from +Rhiannon’s consecration.
The only reason we need a new Bishop of Basingstoke, of course, is because we are losing our old one. Bishop David, and Helen too, have been astonishing servants of this Diocese, both in his time at Christ Church, Winchester, and, of course, as Bishop of Basingstoke. Now is not the time for a full goodbye – that will happen after the Chrism Eucharist on Maundy Thursday at 11.00. Please do plan to come. But I do want to say that David’s impact on this diocese has been incalculable. He is so well loved, especially across his patch in the north of the diocese; so many people have entered into new forms of ministry because of his encouragement; and he shouldered a very significant personal burden at great cost to himself and to Helen in addressing the challenges of this Diocese a few years ago and we are all in his debt – probably more than we know. He’s also my mate, so thank you, David!
Yes, as Lent reminds us we are frail, but our God is faithful, and more than equal to our frailties, and thanks to him we have much to celebrate and for which we must give him thanks, and it is in him above all that we must put our trust. So with those two thoughts in mind let me close with the beautiful, sobering and yet ultimately hopeful Collect for Ash Wednesday. Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
