The Anglican Church of All Saints

Click here to read the sermon for Safeguarding Sunday – 17th November 2024

Following the events of the past weeks, with the Makin report publication and the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Robert wrote a letter to the diocese: https://allsaintstenerife.org/a-letter-from-our-bishop/

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22nd November – Friday

8pm Concert in Church – “The Lute in European Courts”

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23rd November – Saturday

Messy Church –  The theme is Advent. For more information please contact Fiona on +34 623 39 24 99

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24th November – Christ the King Sunday

11am Sung Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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27th November – Wednesday

10am Said Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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1st December – ADVENT SUNDAY

11am Sung Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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Tuesday 3rd December –  Christmas Quiz

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Sunday 22nd December

There are just a few places left for the Christmas Lunch

To reserve a place, please contact Jane Stewart as below

Sunday 17th November 2024 – Safeguarding Sunday

In a week where the archbishop of Canterbury has resigned under a cloud, we cannot but reflect on that today, with regret and sadness for all those who have suffered irreparable damage. We hold the archbishop in our prayers of course as he comes to terms with the consequences.

The Makin report on the “prolific and abhorrent” abuse by John Smyth of some 130 boys and young men over a period of 40 years makes very sobering reading. I don’t suggest you read the report unless you have a strong stomach. The abuse took place in the 1970s at elite evangelical Christian summer camps, at his own home and at Winchester school. When it was uncovered in 1982, Smyth went on to abuse more boys in Zimbabwe and South Africa. One boy died in suspicious circumstances in Zimbabwe.

I won’t go into details but the report states that “his victims were subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks. The impact of that abuse is impossible to overstate and has permanently marked the lives of his victims. John Smyth’s own family are victims of his abuse”. A report on the abuse, prepared as early as 1982, was actively covered up by those who received it, in order to prevent the findings coming to light. Church officers who knew of the abuse failed to pass on details to the relevant authorities in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Had they done so, further abuse and the suspicious death of a child could have been avoided. Makin goes on to say “There were individual failings by senior clergy, and clergy who subsequently became senior. That grouping includes a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Diocesan Bishops and Canons and Reverends”.

What are we to make of it all, I wonder? I think the first thing to underline is the importance of safeguarding. This is not just a woke box-ticking exercise, but something we must all take seriously. This applies not just to clergy, officers and safeguarding teams, but every single one of us has the responsibility to be alert to something that doesn’t look right. And there are well-defined protocols for dealing with any such issue: quite simply your first port of call is Shanon as Safeguarding officer, or me as Chaplain. As we now know, many serial abusers hide in plain sight. Smyth was a charismatic and powerful individual, a QC and a Lay reader. He groomed his victims by first posing as a father-figure to them; the boys and young men looked up to and respected him. Serial child abuser Jimmy Saville behaved in a similar way and got away with it for years. The reason one cleric gave for deliberately covering up the Smyth abuse is that if it were widely known, it would bring the church into disrepute. Just look at us now.

For us as a Church, we are left with 3 key issues to navigate: our credibility, our witness to the world and our commitment to justice, repentance and healing.

Church leaders’ failure to protect vulnerable people calls into question our integrity. As we heard in our gospel passage, leaders are called to be shepherds who care for their flock. Failure to uphold this responsibility is not merely an institutional failure, but a spiritual one. More accountability is clearly needed or the Church risks alienating its members and the wider public, undermining our ability to witness effectively. Someone told me that this week that they’d been asked by a person outside the church about the current scandal. I suspect many of us will be asked what we make of it- and I think we need to have a point of view.

Even more shocking than the failure to act or report on Smyth’s activities is the lack of support for the victims. The report says: “There was little support offered to the victims. Indeed, there is evidence of Mark Ruston being critical of some victims when questioning them. There is also evidence of what amounts to “victim blaming” in some of the correspondence.”

We certainly can’t rest on our laurels with the departure of Justin Welby. If we are to truly repent, that means not just expressing regret but turning away from sin and making a commitment to real change. This means we have not only to acknowledge our failings but make some proactive steps to prevent this sort of thing happening again. These are cheap words and easy to say, but building healthier and more, dare I say it, supportive and inclusive communities is what we should be aiming for. We all make mistakes: “Errare humanum est sed perseverare diabolicum” as Seneca may have said. This maxim means that to make mistakes is a common human attribute (and therefore forgivable) but to keep making the same mistake is a personal moral flaw (hence less forgivable). How many more abuse scandals will there be in the Church unless something at the top changes?

Healing requires both justice and care for the victims as well as acknowledgement of the Church’s systemic role in past harms. We all feel pained and perhaps disillusioned by these revelations. It is therefore our duty to ensure that our church and the Church more widely is a place of safety. I know some have wondered why I continue to emphasise inclusivity here but that is all part of the bigger picture.

Our gospel reading offers a lens through which to view this current crisis, particularly regarding the failures of leadership, safeguarding and care which have been exposed through the Makin report. By using a child as an example of leadership, our gospel writer demonstrates that true leadership is not based on worldly models of power and authority but humility and dependence on God. A failure to embody this humility and a culture of self-preservation have been allowed to take precedence over transparency, integrity and care for the vulnerable. Church leaders should seek to exemplify humility and servant-heartedness, modelling their leadership on Christ.

We heard a stark warning that anyone who causes a child – or by extension – any vulnerable person to stumble – will face severe judgement. The Church’s failure to investigate allegations of abuse demonstrates a profound departure from a Christian duty of care to protect the “little ones”. It is our sacred mission to prioritise the safety and welfare of the most vulnerable.

Finally, there’s an implied critique of hypocrisy in this passage. When the Church which proclaims a message of love justice and care fails to live out these values, then it undermines all that we stand for and makes us look complete fools. The forces of evil must be rubbing their hands in glee at our disarray.

How can we as individuals respond? Our first port of call is to pray. Please pray for the many victims of this appalling man, whose lives have been irrevocably damaged by what they have suffered. Please pray for those whose lack of concern and failure to act allowed the abuse to continue unchecked for so long, and that they will have the integrity to do what is right. Justin Welby should not be the scapegoat for a culpability which goes way beyond himself.

Please pray for the appointment process for the next archbishop of Canterbury, and that the Church will adopt the servant-hearted, humble leadership it needs to regain its credibility.

One way to make change is to stand up and be counted. One of the reasons I was on General Synod before I came here was that I felt changes needed to be made. One way of doing that is having a voice at Synod. I’ve recently been elected to Diocesan Synod for the same reason. Whilst more clergy stood than there were vacancies, not enough lay people stood, and there are still 2 lay member vacancies. Is this something you might consider? If so, please come and talk to me.

And remember, that in all the chaos and confusion, God has got this. The bigger plan may not be apparent to us now, but there is a bigger plan. The restorative and transformative love of God always surrounds us, even in our darkest moments. Finally, if anyone has been triggered or affected by anything I have said, please do come and speak to me in confidence.

Mtr Fiona Jack – Chaplain

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Previous sermons can be seen on this link.