SIR: The leadership in the Church of England are quick to say that they will learn lessons after the publication of certain reports, or after a challenging and distressing situation has occurred in the life of the Church. Will the same be true after the sad situation in the diocese of Winchester? or, now that the Bishop has announced his retirement will life move on as before? It is a distressing time both for the diocese and for the Bishop and his family. Surely, things cannot just be left with an attempt to forget them.
It is all the more important when several dioceses are vacant or shortly to be so. If there is to be a lessons-learnt exercise, in the interests of transparency, which is another word often used by church leaders, may we know what the lessons are? It seems to me that several important questions need to be answered, in an attempt to prevent any recurrence.
First, why is the Bishop not to retire until next February, when he has said that, between now and then, he will hand over his responsibilities to others? The Bishop stepped down in May 2021; so does that mean that he will receive his episcopal stipend for eight months without functioning as the diocesan Bishop? We are told that the Bishop of Southampton is running the diocese.
Second, will there be an inquiry into how the appointment was made in the first place, bearing in mind that there are those who couldn’t believe that such an appointment had been made.
Third, will Caroline Boddington, the Archbishops’ Appointments Adviser, be questioned regarding the research that she undertook into the Bishop’s background before the meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission, and how much information the commission was given? Who provided references to Ms Boddington regarding his suitability for senior leadership? Did she approach the Church Army, given that he had been Principal of its college in Nairobi, or CMS, whose General Secretary he was at the time?
Fourth, I am led to believe that the list of potential bishops which is held by Ms Boddington comes together from names supplied to her by diocesan bishops. If this is correct, did Lord Harries, when he was Bishop of Oxford, put Canon Dakin’s name (as he then was) forward, as the latter lived in the Oxford diocese?
Fifth, what does this situation have to say regarding the senior-leadership training course, which, we are led to believe, is undertaken by all diocesan bishops and those who might go on to Ms Boddington’s list of potential candidates?
Sixth, has the time come for a more open process in the appointment of bishops, as certainly happens in several other Provinces of the Anglican Communion?
Philip Johanson,
Stourwood Avenue,
Bournemouth
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