A Panel of Inquiry faulted the church’s failure to pass on allegations about the serial abuser to an evangelical congregation he joined in 2014, and said that failures in implementing its safeguarding system leaves congregants at risk.
Sexual allegations against veteran barrister Jeremy Gauntlett came after he was one of three people appointed to investigate whether the late John Smyth engaged in sexual abuse while living in South Africa.
The Rev. Canon Chris Ahrends: “It’s time for a form of ‘civil disobedience’ within the church — call it ‘ecclesiastical disobedience’ — by clergy of conscience.”
Remarkably for this genre of prayers, the 15 drafts released by the archbishop reflect not only proposed blessings, but also a prayer of reservations and prayers that focus more on the divided nature of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
A resolution approved by the Anglican province’s standing committee also weighs in on pilgrimages to Israel, saying they should “include an interfaith (or at the very least ‘Abrahamic’) component and a discussion regarding the current situation of Christians in the Holy Land.”
