Off with Her Head

In his own Presidential address back at the end of November, the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, referred to his own disciplining of Bishop Pete Broadbent of Willesden after Pete Broadbent had expressed his own opinions about the coming expense of the Royal Marriage between balding Bill and the lovely Kate (Pete had his own other words). In the usual slippery presentation that fools no one, that is starting with praise and ending with a threat, Chatres stated:

Within the Diocese, Bishop Pete is a most valued friend and colleague. I am deeply grateful to him for our partnership in the gospel and was able to say that when I visited him and Sarah at home on Sunday. What the outside world sees is a bishop who represents the Church of England making comments abut a marriage for which Bishop Pete has himself apologised unreservedly. The subsequent action has been taken in consultation with Pete. The best course now is for us all to refrain from comment and observe the order of the day – heads down or heads off.

The order of the day: Chartres as the boss? Heads off? Isn't that what they used to do? Let's not spread this idea about too much otherwise it might become a good idea: starting with bishops and in particular some so-called senior ones.

Once again this matter demonstrates that clergy and bishops in the Church of England do not represent honesty. They represent appearances and presentations. No one is fooled by this, no one at all. It is becoming necessary to start a clean-up to disestablish this Church, and then to have more clarity about the boundaries - to be within them or not.