When Chris Brain prepared for his ordination as a priest of the Church of England, he did not want just any vestments. He wanted the robes worn by actor Robert De Niro as the actor depicted a slave trader-turned-priest in The Mission. And so, at what various media reports have called great expense, the team behind Brain’s Nine O’Clock Service tracked down the robes and fulfilled his wish.
The ministry Brain led fell apart in 1995 after charges of sexual abuse against him became public knowledge and he resigned. In late August, 30 years after multiple women filed their complaints, Brain was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault. The jury in Inner London Crown Court found him not guilty of another 15 counts of indecent assault and did not reach verdicts on another five charges, including one charge of rape. The jury was discharged, and the prosecution may appeal.
The charges related to his behavior between 1981 and 1995, when Brain was leader of the night club-style youth worship service, first based at St. Thomas Crookes in Sheffield, which used rave dancing, light shows, videos, and gyrating young women to convey a postmodern gospel.
Part of the Nine O’Clock Service’s liturgical style lives on in the Cosmic Mass movement led by the Rev. Matthew Fox. Fox had left the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers and was preparing for the Episcopal priesthood when he invited Brain’s community to bring its service to the nave of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1995.
Fox’s Cosmic Mass does not incorporate women dancing in leather bikinis, and there is no suggestion that Fox has sought the all-encompassing power that Brain wielded in the Nine O’Clock Service community.
Testimony during Brain’s trial suggested that across these 30 years he has not grasped certain important boundaries in relationships between a vicar and his parishioners. Brain granted that he could sometimes be “overbearing,” but he said this was his “direct Yorkshire style,” according to a BBC report. Brain acknowledged that he received massages from parishioners: “I just did. Why not?”
But the prosecution argued, successfully in 17 cases, that those massages sometimes led to “sensual touching.” Brain said this sensual touching was “between friends” and “no big deal.”
The Independent thought to ask Roland Howard, author of a book-length treatment of the Nine O’Clock Service, to offer his reflections on Brain. Howard described sitting in a darkened room as he waited to interview Brain.
“After an awkward wait, eventually Brain walked in, flanked by two pretty secretaries, also dressed in black. Everyone fell silent. Brain sat at the head of the table, backlit by spotlights and I, Putin-style, was several metres away at the other end of the table,” he wrote.
Howard wrote about a general atmosphere of control and oppression: “Several women related how they got close to Brain only to be ridiculed, criticised and screamed at for hours. Eventually, he would tell them that they had problems with their sexual boundaries and would offer to heal them by exploring their sexuality together. The idea was that Brain was the only man who was wholly pure sexually and thus only he could help them. Scores of young women testified to inappropriate sexual experiences with Brain.”
Howard added: “The most disturbing interviews I had were with members of the Homebase Team. This was a group of women (with one token man) formed in 1990 to support Brain and his wife and child during his studies to become a full priest and to shield him from the pressures and interruptions of life outside. The women were told that they were post-modern nuns, who had to wear mini-skirts or leggings and make-up instead of a habit and veil. Their job was to cook, shop, clean and baby mind and to withdraw from life outside the home—they were forbidden to talk to other members of the congregation about their work. Occasionally they wore lingerie or underwear to do the chores. They also had to put Brain to bed each night and to satisfy his sexual needs.”
Bishop David Lunn of Sheffield dismissed concerns raised about Brain 30 years ago. The Rt. Rev. Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield since 2017, speaks from a fuller experience of seeing Brain placed on trial and found guilty of 17 counts.
“As Bishop of Sheffield, I want to speak directly to the survivors, their families and friends, and to everyone affected by these events. I am deeply sorry for the harm you have suffered. I recognise that a mixed verdict can be profoundly painful: for some it may bring a measure of justice and relief, and for others it will feel incomplete, confusing, or retraumatising. Those reactions are understandable and I am truly sorry for the continued hurt this brings,” Wilcox said.
“What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred. Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures I offer an unreserved apology.”
Douglas LeBlanc is an Associate Editor and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
