The deadline for letters for the Maundy Thursday issue is 12 noon on Monday.
From the Welby to the Mullally era
From the Revd John M. Overton
Madam, — In the run-up to ordination of women as priests, and again as their consecration as bishops approached, much was made of biblical verses such as Genesis 1.27, “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them,” and Galatians 3.28, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, much has been made in the secular press of the numbers of women in high-status positions in the Church of England who are involved in the installation of our first female archbishop, almost as if there was a perception of a transfer of power from one gender to the other.
It was good to be reminded on Sunday at Evening Prayer of the verses from Matthew 20.25-28, “But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’”
Under the last Archbishop of Canterbury, power seemed to be absorbed centrally, with funding stripped from dioceses, particularly poorer ones, and funds made available instead for costly “projects”. Bids had to be made for such projects. Unsurprisingly, much seemed to be won by wealthy and articulate urban and suburban groups.
Protest at this from bishops of either gender seemed to be starkly absent — at least in public.
The result has been the stripping away of full-time stipendiary posts in poorer and rural areas, with predictable results in mental- and physical-health decline among clergy, and increased demands for “parish share” or “common fund” contributions from small congregations struggling to keep churches open and in safe repair. Failure to meet such demands results in longer periods of interregnum and ever smaller share of a stipendiary cleric.
If you are relatively well off, it is much cosier to live in a prosperous area, where you worship in a “successful” church, where less than 25 per cent of your giving goes to parish share, leaving plenty of money to pay for youth workers, minibuses, and other adjuncts to mission and ministry. If you choose to worship in a poorer area, 65 to 70 per cent (or more) of your giving would disappear in parish share.
It is good to have an incoming Archbishop of Canterbury with roots firmly in nursing — a care profession par excellence. I am sure that I am not alone in hoping and praying that this may help us to be led in a way that seeks justice and shows that we care for the poor and neglected.
JOHN M. OVERTON
Buxton, Derbyshire
The place of therapy in the life of the ordained
From Philippa Smethurst
Madam, — I read the Revd Mark Edwards’s response (Comment, 13 March) to Celia Walden’s Daily Telegraph column with both interest and dismay. His courage in speaking openly about his mental-health struggles as a serving clergyman is striking— and the shame and distress that he describes does not surprise, but saddens, me.
Ms Walden claims that people believe in either God or therapy. This is wrong and dangerously dualistic. Her suggestion that Archbishop Welby should have “got himself an appointment with the Almighty” rather than seek therapy is simplistic and harmful. Faith does not make Christians immune to depression or anxiety. Prayer does not replace doctors, psychiatrists, or therapists. Psychotherapy, counselling, and medication can — and often do — work through God’s grace to bring healing and hope.
As a psychotherapist with 30 years’ experience, I have worked with priests across several dioceses. I have seen firsthand how therapy helps clergy continue to serve while attending to their own mental health. To suggest that faith alone is enough reinforces stigma, shame, and isolation at the very moment when support is most needed.
At a time when services are severely cut and chronically underfunded, we must focus on creative and compassionate ways to help people — not add to the polarisation and oversimplification that make suffering worse. Therapy and medication are not a betrayal of faith: they are lifelines, often delivered by those through whom God’s care is made real.
Faith and mental-health care are not in opposition: they are both integral to living, serving, and healing.
PHILIPPA SMETHURST
Address supplied (Duns Tew, Oxfordshire)
The recognition of routes open to those fleeing crises
From the Revd Martin Jewitt
Madam, — The Revd Kenneth Madden rightly points out that immigration and asylum needs to be facilitated under the rule of law (Letter, 13 March). The difficulties lie in the increasing number and scale of humanitarian crises around the world, and the number of people having to flee, or being expelled. And this current war in the Middle East will make things only worse. This link, between asylum-seeking and what people are fleeing from, needs to be properly explained by politicians and the media.
If refugees cannot find refuge legally, they will look for it illegally. This opens the market for people-traffickers — a despicable business, but inevitable. But what is illegal is defined by government legislation, and it needs to be asked whether enough routes are being legally provided in the light of the crises faced by large sections of humanity. It has to be faced by all countries that can provide safe refuge.
Other measures need to be taken, such as bringing forward when asylum-seekers are allowed to work (and so pay taxes), speeding up asylum claims (so fewer hotels and army camps), and stopping plans to make life more difficult for those already accepted as refugees.
Government needs to be honest with us about the challenges and impossibilities that we all face, and we, the Church, need to keep reminding our neighbours that all parties in the current global crises are human beings.
MARTIN JEWITT
Folkestone, Kent
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet and Gafcon’s position
From the Revd Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Madam, — I am trying to understand the point that the Revd Mike Tufnell is making (Letters, 20 March) regarding the attendance by the Bishop of Ebbsfleet at the Gafcon conference in Nigeria. If I understand him rightly — and as his argument is not very clear, I might not be — he is suggesting that notwithstanding the Bishop’s position as a suffragan to the Archbishop of Canterbury and his ordination vows, he was justified in attending the schismatic conference because someone entirely unrelated, the Revd Dr Charlie Baczyk-Bell, entered into a same-sex marriage somewhere else.
This probably made sense to Mr Tufnell when he was writing it, but I confess that the logic is a little bit lost on me, which I am sure is my fault.
If I were offering counsel to the Bishop, which I accept has not been sought, I would suggest that he might pay no attention in this context to anyone else’s marital circumstances, but, rather, focus on how he can be affiliated to a body that calls on him, in such affiliation, to have no dealings with his diocesan bishop.
FERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI
Auchterless, Aberdeenshire
Legalisation of abortion and comparable issues
From Dr Christopher Shell
Madam, — I don’t find it fair to the Archbishop of Canterbury that her words from 2012 on abortion should receive such scrutiny as they have. They were just a tweet. Standard and question-begging terminology such as “pro-choice” was accepted uncritically. She has since semi-clarified her position; and further clarification of how she can emphasise both the ultimate value of human life and the rightness of the present 24-week limit (founded as it is on that “viability” that has no relevance for non-premature babies) will no doubt follow.
I must, however, register scepticism about Professor Robin Gill’s belief (Letters, 20 March) that all kinds of things that were both able to remain illegal and were considered immoral for centuries should, at this random point in history, have to be legalised. May I term it 85 per cent wrong, given that the abortion rate in England and Wales is now about six times the 40,000 that it was in the first 12 months of legality?
Legalisation brings normalisation, proliferation, and sometimes the deadening of conscience. Just as with assisted dying, selective human-interest stories are not centrally relevant, since if a law covers the whole populace, it follows that it must be assessed for its likely effects, unintended and otherwise, on the whole populace.
CHRISTOPHER SHELL
Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey
Advocacy on behalf of care-home residents
From Mr Michael Maslinski
Madam, — You kindly published an interview with me regarding my book What Would Maggie Do? (Features, 13 March). The reason for the book was that senior people in the care sector told me my experience of living for nine years in a care home, to supervise the care and treatment of my late wife with dementia, was so rare that I should tell our story for the benefit of others and to advocate much needed changes in the care system.
The care was mainly excellent, but, when it came to crucial decisions regarding Maggie’s welfare, I, too, often had to battle with a variety of health professionals, from local management to hospital consultants. It became obvious that sometimes their judgement of my wife’s best interests was distorted by standardised practices and fear of being criticised. But for my interventions, doctors have advised that Maggie would have left us at least five years earlier.
Most care-home residents do not have a powerful advocate to fight the system on their behalf, and it is for them that the book is written, including ideas for significant changes to improve the culture, to promote the use of professional judgement in adapting standard practices for individual needs, and to take far more account of the views of relatives, especially where a power of attorney is in place.
Judging from the feedback, many of your readers will relate to my experience and to the urgent need for change in the care system.
MICHAEL MASLINSKI
Ware, Hertfordshire
Quinquennial and fire
Madam, — My parish church recently had an inspection by our local Fire Protection Officer, and we failed badly. The possibility of an immediate-closure notice was only averted by our churchwarden’s prompt action. Subsequently, the church was served with a seven-point Enforcement Notice, with works to be completed within six months.
As your readers may imagine, obtaining quotes, permissions, and funding for extensive works has been a challenge, but we will complete all the requirements of the Notice within the given time. The purpose of this letter is to alert your readers to the fact that, although our church has its regular quinquennial inspections, at no point has the inadequacy of our fire-safety measures been included in the report. This may be true for other churches.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into force in October 2006, firmly placed the responsibility for fire safety on to PCCs and clergy. One of the requirements that the Church Buildings Council lays down for inspecting architects is to inspect “all recent written test reports on asbestos and the heating, electrical, fire protection and lightning systems”.
I understood that the purpose of the quinquennial inspection was to ensure that the building is in good repair and safe for all users. In failing to mention fire safety in the report, it may be the case that our inspecting architect is simply following custom and practice. In other words, ours may not be an isolated incident. I would not like other churches to have this blind spot in their responsibilities.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
Clergy and their cats
From Canon Brian Stevenson
Madam, — Canon Angela Tilby is entirely right when she says that cats have a part in God’s purposes (Comment, 13 March). When I was a vicar, I had cats, and they all liked coming to church, whereas our dogs didn’t. Black cat George loved hurdling the pews, watching from the organ loft, and processing up the aisle with the bridesmaids, which calmed their nerves. Our last church cat, Caspar, preferred funerals and was bereft when we left the vicarage on retirement. He died of old age before Christmas 2025, and his funeral in our garden was attended by some of our granddaughters. We read the collect and lessons for the coming of the Magi, after whom he was named.
BRIAN STEVENSON
West Peckham, Kent
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