A PRIEST formerly within the C of E, who used “arguably highly insensitive” terms when speaking concerning the Church’s first transgender archdeacon, has no case to reply, the President of Tribunals has ruled.
Last June, after the Ven. Dr Rachel Mann was appointed because the Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford (News, 23 June 2023), the Revd Brett Murphy, then Vicar of St David’s, Broom Leys, in comments on his YouTube channel (News, 22/29 December 2023), said that Dr Mann was “in truth, biologically, a bloke, who identifies and lives as a lady”. He also described her as a “fella” and a “radical rainbow activist”.
In an extra posting in July, he announced that he had “walked away from the apostasy, the corruption, and the heresy” of the Church of England, which, he said, had “abandoned” him and others like him. He joined the Free Church of England.
This week, a spokesperson for the diocese of Leicester said that complaints had been lodged against Mr Murphy while he was a priest within the diocese. These “related to varied matters and didn’t relate purely to at least one issue”. They had been handled in accordance with the Clergy Discipline Measure.
“After due consideration, the 4 cases were determined and no further motion was taken. One, concerning a vlog by Revd Murphy, was reopened after an appeal was made by the complainant and upheld by the President of Tribunals. . .
“In the reopened case, the President of Tribunals ruled that there was not a case for Mr Murphy to reply so the grievance wouldn’t be referred to the bishop’s disciplinary tribunal. No further steps can now be taken in relation to the grievance.”
Mr Murphy was supported by the Christian Legal Centre. In a press release last week, Christian Concern said that the deputy chair of the Clergy Discipline Commission, David Turner KC, had ruled: “The words used (‘bloke’ and ‘fella’), whilst arguably highly insensitive of their context, are usually not in themselves offensive words. . .
“I actually have concluded here, taking a look at the general picture of conduct alleged, that what was said falls short on the facts of any threshold for further proceedings. It follows that there’s, due to this fact, no case to reply in respect of which a disciplinary tribunal should now be asked to adjudicate.”
In an announcement after the ruling, Mr Murphy said: “The decisions by the C of E to research and pursue me for stating biological truth has reinforced and vindicated all of the concerns that I raised in the unique vlog.”
Archdeacon Mann is a author of poetry, liturgy, theology, and fiction and an occasional contributor to the Church Times. She can be a commentator on BBC radio and tv, and a member of the Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission.
