The most senior figure within Scotland’s Anglican church is facing calls to resign over claims he “misled” clergy about a safeguarding scandal.
The Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) is mired in crisis over the future of the Right Rev Anne Dyer, Scotland’s first woman bishop, who was suspended in 2022 amid accusations of bullying.
She was cleared to return to duties last year when officials ruled that it would “no longer be in public interest” to pursue the allegations against her.
The investigation was headed by Paul Reid KC, the church’s legal officer, who found sufficient evidence to “provide a realistic prospect of conviction in respect of each allegation”.
The Rt Rev Mark Strange, the church primus and Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, insisted this entitled Dyer, 67, to return to work.
The Times has seen a letter sent to Strange by other leading figures, which claims the church failed to offer sufficient support to those who complained about Dyer.
“Your letter suggests that necessary offers of support have been made to all parties directly affected,” claims the letter written by Richard Murray, a member of the ministry team at the Donside Churches in Aberdeenshire, and Dr Stephen Goodyear, a lay reader at St Devenick’s Episcopal Church in Bieldside, Aberdeen.
They continued: “We do not consider that this is true. We note that multiple victims and complainers first learnt of the SEC’s decision to dismiss the allegations of abuse against Ms Dyer through the press or from people who had read online coverage of the decision.”
It said: “You callously did not contact multiple alleged victims or otherwise take appropriate steps to safeguard them. This is shameful.”
Goodyear and Murray also claimed Strange failed to adhere to SEC safeguarding guidelines which call for a “formal process … to investigate the allegations and determine their truth or otherwise” if a respondent denies or doesn’t admit to them.
They claimed: “As you must well know … [Reid] did not determine the truth or otherwise of the allegations of abuse against Ms Dyer.
“He indicated that he did not have powers to make such a determination and that such powers lay instead with the clergy discipline tribunal. The SEC allowed Ms Dyer to return to work in a diocese in which multiple people had complained that they had been abused by her.”
Lord Glenarthur, a member of the church and a former minister of state for Scotland, said Strange should step down.
“The primus, as spiritual leader of his flock, is now in a position which I and others find increasingly untenable,” he said.
Murray, a former chartered surveyor, added: “Bishop Mark must accept responsibility for this shameful state of affairs and consider his position.”
Daphne Audsley, the church’s assistant safeguarding officer, has confirmed that she was not consulted before it was announced that Dyer had been reinstated.
John Wyllie, the SEC’s head of safeguarding, said he did not become aware of the decision until two weeks later, when he returned from annual leave.
Peter Ferguson-Smyth, a lay minister with St Olaf’s Episcopal Church in Kirkwall, Orkney, has written to clergy members alerting them to “safeguarding failures” in relation to Dyer’s reinstatement.
“The safeguarding provisions exist to protect the vulnerable, ensure accountability and create a safe environment where all can worship without fear,” he said.
“However, in the case of Bishop Anne we have seen these principles ignored, leaving a trail of pain, distress and broken trust. The SEC has repeatedly refused to explain how the necessary impartial determination has been made or how alleged victims are being safeguarded.”
Ferguson-Smyth accused Strange of “serious lapses of judgment”.
“In what universe is it morally acceptable to uncover evidence of abuse, yet decide not to examine that evidence and allow the alleged perpetrator to continue unchallenged?” he asked.