Rector’s Reflections
Wednesday 12th February 2025
Is there a Safeguarding Crisis in the Church of England?
At first glance, the answer to this question is pretty obvious : yes, there is indeed a safeguarding crisis in the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned. The Bishop of Liverpool has resigned. There have been calls for the Archbishop of York to resign, and there would be those who argue that our own Diocesan bishop, Bishop Steven, should also resign because of the way that a safeguarding matter was managed during his time as Bishop of Sheffield. And In our own Diocese, the issue of safeguarding was one element in the complex and contested situation which preceded the retirement of Very Revd. Dr. Martyn Percy, the previous Dean of Christ Church.
Furthermore, the media continues to include items relating to safeguarding practice and culture within the Church of England. Only the other day I heard a reference to this in the course of a regular news update on Radio Oxford. It is sad that when the world at large does get to hear about the Church, it is with reference to its failings in the area of safeguarding.
In the circumstances, it is not surprising that the Church’s own parliament (“the General Synod”) is taking Safeguarding very seriously indeed. General Synod is currently sitting in London, and issues relating to safeguard feature prominently on its agenda. On Monday there was a debate in response to the Makin Review, and yesterday a debate headed “Structures of Church Safeguarding Independence”. There are also two Safeguarding Codes of Practice for approval by Synod under what is called “Deemed business” – in other words, these will be approved without debate, unless 25 members give notice to the Clerk that they wish to the Codes to be debated. I should add that if my readers are interested to learn more about General Synod, I would recommend going online to look at its website, which is excellent.
It is therefore hardly surprising that many would say that there is indeed a Safeguarding Crisis in the Church of England. Safeguarding concerns are very much on the agenda at Diocesan level, and at General Synod. Members of the public raise concerns, as do regular churchgoers. And when was the last time that an issue facing the Church led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury? There must be a pretty serious issue for the person at the top – the Archbishop himself- to feel that he must tender his resignation. We’re not used to leaders resigning over failures in their organisations. So things must be very serious indeed.
Or are they? Of course, there are safeguarding issues within the Church of England, but do they constitute a Crisis? Is the idea of a “Crisis” a narrative being peddled by people within the Church who are jockeying for power? Is it a narrative being promoted by members of the media who have their own particular agendas? Unfortunately, safeguarding failures are common to all organisations, and there is nothing to suggest that safeguarding failings are any more prevalent within the Church of England than they are within the world of education or politics. And we should not jump to the conclusion that the mercifully rare occasions when abuse does occur means that the safeguarding system as a whole is not fit for purpose. No safeguarding system, however thorough, can be 100 per cent effective in preventing the occurrence of abuse. This is true in the world of schools, and it is true in the world of the Church. Any system of safeguarding can only reduce the incidence and severity of abuse; it cannot prevent it from happening.
If we compare safeguarding within the Church of England with similar organisations, the Church of England actually comes out very well. Rigorous systems are in place, together with thorough training. I am not saying that safeguarding within the Church of England is perfect, nor that it is better than safeguarding practice within schools, within the Health Service or within Adult Social Care. But it is certainly no worse. Yes, mistakes happen. Such mistakes are deeply regrettable, and we need to learn from them. But by any objective measurement, current safeguarding systems within the Church of England are actually pretty good. Indeed, a recent external audit of safeguarding provision within the Diocese of Oxford has judged it to be exemplary.
And yet questions remain. Not everyone is happy with current safeguarding practice across of the Church of England. There remain significant issues. We shall look at some of these in tomorrow’s reflections.