CLERGY SECURITY

The Bishop’s Staff Meeting recently discussed issues of clergy security and believes it is important that Chaplaincy Council meetings reflect on this. In order to help with this please see the discussion paper (PDF file) from Ministry Division.

Although this was written some time ago it is still valuable and a good starting point for discussion, even though, as is always the case, it is written with the particularities of the English situation in mind and some points will therefore not apply. There are also a range of resources available on the Diocese of London website which can be accessed at http://www.london.anglican.org/Regulations/clergy-safety.html

Clergy security is an important topic and it is part of my pastoral responsibility as Bishop to ensure it is taken seriously. Without wishing to be over-dramatic it is worth noting that in Bishop John Hind’s time as Bishop one of our chaplains was attacked and killed in Milan, so we can never say that such things never happen. So I offer these resources to encourage constructive discussions.

+GEOFFREY GIBRALTAR