Sermon for Second Sunday before Advent: Safeguarding Sunday
17th November 2024
Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14,19-25; Mark 13:1-8
It is impossible to ignore, as I stand in the pulpit this week, the painful events in the Church of England including of course the news that Justin Welby is to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury and therefore as leader of the global Anglican Communion. This follows the publication of the Makin Review which criticised him for failing to act properly on information he received about horrific abuse carried out by former barrister and lay Reader John Smyth. John Smyth was a well-known figure in the 70s and 80s in the evangelical wing of the church, especially involved in leading Christian summer camps. He died in 2018 and is believed to have abused over 100 boys over many decades both in this country and overseas.
The Makin Review found that Archbishop Welby was informed of Smyth’s offences in 2013 (shortly after becoming Archbishop of Canterbury) and, on raising the question, was told that police and social services had been informed. At that point, he believed the situation would be dealt with by the authorities, so, he admits, did not make further “energetic enquires”. He now accepts he should have made these and has apologised for the hurt and harm caused by his failure to act. “I must take personal and institutional responsibility” he said in his resignation statement. As leader of the Anglican Church worldwide, he acknowledged that he failed in his responsibility to ensure accountability, and to endeavour to secure justice for victims and survivors, and he resigned. A highly unusual, possibly unprecedented, thing to do. And whatever our personal thoughts on his culpability, we must hold him and his family in our prayers.
You may well have your own views. If you have read some or all of the Makin Review you may well be feeling anger, shame, compassion for the survivors, fear for the future of the church.
Some of you may well have been shocked to have learnt how the Church failed to protect the most vulnerable and to hold to account those who have caused such awful harm.
Some of you may agree with the view that Archbishop Justin had the fundamental responsibility to root out abusers like Smyth and to ensure that the voices of survivors were heard above all others. And that in acknowledging his failure to do so, the only course of action was to resign.
But maybe there are others here this morning who believe Archbishop Justin is in someways being scapegoated, being held responsible for a wrongdoing which was not exclusively his wrongdoing, taking the “buck stops here” mentality too personally. Because if he has resigned because of a failure to take action, what of the many others who held office during the years the abuse was committed. What is their wrongdoing? Their responsibility?
And there are certainly those in the wider church community who wonder if this fire has been stoked by those within the church who do not agree with the direction in which Justin Welby is taking the Church of England and have forced him to fall on his sword for completely different reasons.
Whatever you feel about what has happened, I hope that together we can explore our feelings in a safe place as we consider the implications for the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion of this unprecedented turn of events and the failures in safeguarding which the Makin Review has exposed.
Is it possible to say that the safeguarding procedures are now such that this kind of horrifying abuse will never happen again. No, I doubt that it is. Because we all know that there will always be those who seek to cause harm to others.
And, tragically, there will always be those who are not the trustworthy, safe people that they claim to be.
But safeguarding is the responsibility of each one of us. This Sunday was many, many months ago designated by the Church of England bishops to be Safeguarding Sunday. Little did they know what would transpire in the week leading up to it.
Preventing abuse, rooting it out and reporting it when it does occur, and ensuring that the relevant authorities are told is our responsibility, each of us. It is the responsibility of both Archbishops. It is the responsibility of the Archdeacons and Bishops as leaders in senior roles. It is my responsibility as someone who wears a collar. It is your responsibility as someone who attends church. Abuse is a sin and so is covering it up.
It's all rather sobering and sombre stuff. And if we were looking for a reassuring gospel reading to inspire us, I’m afraid today is perhaps the wrong day! Jesus is talking about the end of time, the coming of God’s Kingdom and it is quite scary stuff.
The disciples have pointed out the enormity of the temple building and are probably expecting Jesus to agree with them about its greatness but of course he doesn’t say what they expect him to say. He replies that not one stone will be left, that all will be thrown down. The disciples are confused, quite understandably. They want to know when this will happen and what will happen.
In reply Jesus lists the many disasters that will befall the nations of the world. Wars, rumours of war, nations fighting against each other, earthquakes, false prophets and famines (perhaps today he would have added child abuse). This is “the beginning of the birth pangs”.
Jesus compares what will happen to the world to the labour pains a woman suffers in child birth. The birth of the new creation, God’s new world, the breaking in of his kingdom will be a painful and frightening experience. Scary stuff.
In his ministry Jesus sometimes quotes from the Book of Daniel. The passage which we heard as our first reading this morning is from the final chapter of Daniel’s prophecy and looks towards a time of trial, a time of anguish, followed by judgment in which the righteous are vindicated and the unrighteous are punished. It is a vision of table turning – or the unrighteous getting their comeuppance.
We probably find pictures of judgment rather unpalatable. We probably also find the predictions Jesus is making in today’s Gospel uncomfortable. The prediction of the various calamities which are symptoms of an ongoing struggle between good and evil. The final victory and the bringing to birth of the new creation will, Jesus predicts, necessarily generate painful birthpangs.
The problem is that so often it feels as if God’s kingdom is hidden. Things seem so desperate when we think of the wars, conflicts and terrible suffering we see on our TVs every day. And now this awful, horrific abuse in the name of God.
But as Christians we are assured that God will reign triumphant and we take courage from that knowledge. God is a God of hope, of reconciliation and of peace. And there is so much good about humanity too. And we mustn’t lose sight of this. On Friday night, the BBC’s Children in Need appeal came to an end for another year, having raised more than £39 million. Ordinary people helping others; ordinary people making life better for others; a snapshot of how the world is meant to be. A world so far removed from the world of abuse, bullying and cruelty.
And so I am reminded of those words from the Letter to the Hebrews which we heard just now. Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together but encouraging one another. Provoke one another to love. This is where God’s kingdom reigns triumphant.
The Makin Review shows up a deep wound in the church. But there is still hope. As Bishop Steven said in his address to Diocesan Synod yesterday, we are all called to build a Church which is safe for all and grounded in hope. And everyone here is able to commit to doing everything we each possibly can do to ensure that the safety of the most vulnerable in our society and to continue to pray for those who lead us. Because as the Archbishop has known for a very long time, leadership is not a burden lightly or easily carried. He got some things wonderfully right, but other things he got very wrong. And there too but for the grace of God go most of us.
Amen