I would like to raise some concerns which shouldn't be left on a backburner any longer but should be priority. Excuse my way of putting things, I am a workman not a scholar.
If you care about safeguarding or the Church of England you will read this rather than let any gatekeeper tell you that the opinion of a member of the public doesn't matter. They do matter because the C of E is the state church of the UK and the voice of the people do matter. I am one of a growing number of concerned individuals. Today I saw concerns raised by someone who had been attending the Anglican Church for 75 years, which indicates that even the older people entrenched in the C of E are concerned.
1. The Church of England doesn't safeguard and needs to be under regulation.
2. The Archbishop and Senior Bishops are seriously harming the remaining congregation with their use of the national media. (This includes overuse of news headlines for C of E PR during the Synod. The Church's personal business isn't national news, and a lot of it makes the C of E laughing stock.
3. Matters swept under the carpet should be priority over the ongoing irrelevancies in the press.
4. Senior Bishops acting in ignorant and prejudiced ways should reconsider their positions.
5. The Church PR representation is seriously awry and is making a struggling denomination look terrible.
I am a former Anglican, who alongside many, has watched the C of E rapidly decline while the senior clergy have escalated their use of the Press for pseudo-celebrity status in an attempt presumably to keep the church relevant, but sadly doing the opposite, as the senior ladies and gents involved making themselves into stars leads to the opposite of making church inviting, especially when those press releases make the church look eccentric at best. The senior men and women are not rock stars, they are ministers of religion. (who have lost their way a little). Currently the headlines are being flooded with set-up cat videos and Bishops breaching health and safety to show off about solar panels (part of the fake environmental awareness PR stunt that dragged naive and elderly congregations to pose over Lent). The best headline response to all this as the general public suffers, is, 'Idiots'.
Calling the whole of the C of E in the UK institutionally racist is a massive generalization by the Bishop of Dover, who has been described by onlookers as 'race baiting' and each time she does this, the ABoC/Y and friends parrot her without question. Who is the real Archbishop? It isn't to do with race in reality, and it looks bad. White people aren't all racist, the Bishop of Dover needs to name the people who she feels are committing race crimes, and make sure they are referred for disciplinary or legal action, and it really doesn't need to be a headline again, does it? Look at the damage that the ABoC has done to the national congregation by his lines prompted by this. The Archbishop is obviously struggling with ill health, but his comments regarding the colour of Jesus, and removing statues were horrifying and unacceptable. Jesus' skin colour is not a relevant topic and wasn't made so by the recent racial headlines, Jesus' Word is the only thing that matters. The statues, our history, do not belong to the ABoC. Many many people have been horrified. And after the recent crisis has reduced the national congregation, it is unclear why there seems to have been a press-based effort by the AB to further reduce it. I have seen and heard, over the past month, thousands of people voicing concern about the ABoC and the C of E. The debate seemed to be whether he had taken leave of his senses or was being sponsored or egged on by former school chums, to ruin the C of E. If such things are being said, surely it is time for him to reconsider? Although he appears immune to concerns raised via email, phone and letter as recorded in the press by those trying to contact him with concerns and being rebuffed.The BBC and Guardian, the last stand in the Church's PR storm, are predominantly white, have the Archbishops criticised them or accused them of racism?
The term 'Virtue Signalling' is used for the senior clergy with their wealth and palaces, when they make a show of caring about the poor and vulnerable who their own actions often hurt. The show is presumably a passing nod at Christ who gave the C of E an excuse to exist for the purposes of the senior clergy who have free rein to interfere in government. The Dominic Cummings show was a good indication of how bad the situation is, the Bishops offered to withdraw from influencing the government, and didn't do so, they alleged death threats instead, a bit like Baroness Butler-Sloss also did. Another unpunished wrongdoer in the C of E.
The Archbishop's repeated comments about the nation/church needing to repent aren't backed up by his example, his actions in certain cases are far from repentant. If we are in Christ, we are forgiven by Him, and that is between us and God, it has nothing to do with the Archbishop of Canterbury to judge who needs to repent. If the Archbishop feels guilty and needs penance (unlikely in light of his safeguarding breaches and psychopathic refusal of responsibility) then maybe he can answer calls to provide redress as the C of E was a major player in the slave trade, otherwise his scratching of old wounds is pointless. Empty Vessels. The Archbishop of Canterbury is singing high praise of the new Archbishop of York, who apparently thinks that swearing and driving his clergy out are Christian. The situation is as incomprehensible and baffling as the current governance of the UK.
Clashing headlines such as 24 million being granted for worship in deprived areas (why not to abuse victims?) while in the same 20 headlines, the Commons Church has been closed due to lack of funding. The Anglicans have this opposing headlines game down to an art, much to the bafflement of the general public. Presumably the C of E have to make an image of actually spending some of their 6bn after doing nothing during the recent crisis? No follow up and no questions asked, as per usual. But you can't save a wonderful historic choir and church? If the C of E were made to account for the 24m in a year or so, would they be able to? No? How about an account of how much the C of E are paying for the PR/Disaster Management firm who have been essential during the past seven years to create this false illusion of care and inclusion as the C of E collapses?
I wonder, rather than a synod week of insufferable irrelevancies from the Church of England, maybe we could have a week's holiday and they could conduct their business in private, after all, Anglican business is only relevant within the church, it has very little relevance to the majority of the nation, and is an annoyance and a distress to those who have been hurt, forced out or have left because of the decline, and it is certainly a burden to victims of the C of E, which is why they protested outside every synod while inside, the synod released falsehoods about safeguarding and abuse to the press, so transparent, so unchallenged. It is also cruel to mislead the unknowing and vulnerable with falsehoods in the press. The C of E is dangerous to anyone misled to join because of PR falsehoods.
The ABoC has made a big show of removing Dr George Carey from church positions several times, but Baroness Butler-Sloss, who took part in the Peter Ball cover-up, has remained and remained, and as a result took part in a further cover up that Justin Welby himself was part of, maybe more than one, but I mean the 2010 onwards matter, and Butler-Sloss has remained, on the Ecclesiastical Committee, aiding cover-up in the C of E by slipping laws into place that protect wrongdoers. Did the ABoC simply overlook such a serious matter? He and others involved have not been made accountable and his actions were as serious as those of Dr. Carey. Butler Sloss and another church leader, Fiona Woolf, were allowed to head and sabotage the National Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, sabotaging it, without anyone within or without speaking up and with the church well aware that it made the IICSA null, and even with new leaders, the two C of E dignitaries had plenty of opportunity to affect the Inquiry and its outcomes to favour the C of E. And this was after it had been clearly proven that Butler-Sloss acted corruptly in the Bishop Ball case.
It has astounded many that the senior leaders have so much time for press releases which are harming the church. There are many issues which need addressing within the C of E that they could be improving the church's image by finding solutions to, and it would give the church a better press. John Sentamu finally went, leaving his negligences unresolved, and the new ABY made a PR show of one of those negligences, with the standard 'Apology for the Press' that has become so familiar despite it being gently explained to the Archbishops and senior Bishops that apologies to the press are meaningless glory stunts and the victims should be put first and receive those apologies in person. The press, having had nothing to do with the incidents that the senior figures keep apologising to them for, are undeserving of apology. Privately or not at all should be the rule, after all, didn't Jesus significantly speak out about the Pharisees public doings for public acclaim?
Rather than apologies, regulation and true independent inquiries are needed, not 'independent within the church and for the church, paying for the outcomes the church requires' as has been done repeatedly. Bishops and Archbishops not being made accountable for crimes and misconducts and leaving them as PR stunts for their replacements is a terrible state of affairs.
Jesus isn't black, and the CofE have just replaced a black Archbishop with a white one who claims that Jesus was black and who appears to have no theological or Biblical training. As I have explained to the Archbishop, such ignorance comes over as antisemitism to me and to other Jews, and racism to many as well. This 'institutionally racist' and 'changing the colour of Jesus' game in the spotlight is needless, and if the C of E have evidence of racism, they need to discipline, expel, or take legal action against those involved, and not inflict it on the general public.Onwards they need to stop being anti-white for PR, this goes against the majority of their congregation, and for no reason.
The culture that has been rising in the C of E and pushing Christians out is toxic, but who has arranged and sponsored it? It was already around before Justin Welby took it upon himself to tear the church down, his installment was when this started in earnest. I think each week of irrelevancies in the press speed up the death of the C of E, and presumably those doing this are not worried as it is their intention and they have already made their power and fortune from the church.
The worn out use of words such as 'humbling', 'shamed', 'sorrow' and 'apology' should be replaced by words such as 'resignation', 'conviction' and 'prosecution'.
The Church have made a very big public show about the matters at Oxford, and have circulated 'safeguarding' letters to be discussed.
The AboC has seriously breached safety by breaking lockdown to interfere with Coronavirus patients as a public glory display, when he claimed to have had pneumonia and should have been shielding for his sake and others. He has a long history now of using the vulnerable for his personal glory as well as harming them. The 'show' investigations into abuse where a heavy use of the press turned investigations into a kind of warped advertisement for the C of E and the ABoC but victims were left publicly harmed and without justice, such things are priority matters and should be more important than this current charm offensive (sic) by the Church of England. The 'National Safeguarding Team' are evidenced to have seriously harmed abuse victims and put the image of the C of E first as well as breaking the law. Both they and the ABoC should not sit in on any judgement of the Dean of Oxford before they are removed or convicted. The Oxford matter is one which should be dealt with by a neutral outside body - obviously not SCIE or Skills, as those have acted as 'rent-a-body' agencies to mislead the general public about the state of safeguarding within the church just as the conflicted judges and dignitaries who whitewash mercilessly do. For example Lord Carlile.
The matters mentioned should be under urgent investigation. Safeguarding is not an advertisement or publicity stunt, fake safeguarding used as both is beyond the pale. That enormous amount of time used on publicity should be used to address internal matters.
The Anglican Church will have something to boast about when they return to Jesus and are also placed under regulation, which in light of these matters would be the only Christian option; the current situation of the church giving the image of being able to interfere in government and gaining income as a charity while spewing ridiculous and irrelevant headlines into the news and causing harm, distress and confusion, is nothing to be proud of. The C of E's congregation no longer merits the senior leadership and the government interference, Lambeth Palace and Church house aren't viable any more, and most of the staff are not needed. The Commons Church and choir shouldn't have been lost, the needless senior leadership should be being stripped down, starting with those with unresolved safeguarding complaints against them which indicate why the C of E needs to be regulated.
This letter will be posted as a blog. The more that the unwary vulnerable in the general population are aware that the Church of England is a risk rather than a caring place, the less likely people are to be drawn in and hurt.
Yours in Christ,
Mr John Carter
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