ALL latest spending at Bangor Cathedral has been suspended by the Chapter, a Church in Wales spokesman confirmed this week.
The suspension was first reported last week by BBC Wales, which linked it to cathedral debts owed to the Bangor diocesan board of finance (DBF).
The spokesman said on Wednesday that the suspension had been put in place, “pending a review this week”. It follows a Visitation that uncovered concerns about “weak financial controls, unclear reporting lines, and spending decisions that were insufficiently scrutinised” (News, 3 May). A sixth serious-incident report was made to the Charity Commission this month after the Chapter met and discussed financial record-keeping and procedures (News, 16 May).
Among the problems raised in an earlier serious-incident report was the expenditure of £418,000 on latest furniture for the cathedral, the majority of the associated fee borne by the DBF, with “inadequate consultation and knowledge”, a gaggle of whistle-blowers said. The Dean and Chapter have already agreed to pay back to the DBF funds spent on trips abroad that ought to have been their very own expenses.
In the weeks after publication of the Visitation recommendations, members of the cathedral congregation have continued to boost concerns with the Bishops in Wales (Letters, 30 May). On Tuesday, the Church Times was shown one such letter, which described the past yr as “dreadful and stressful”.
“There appears to be little or no management structure in place, and it appears that evidently the cathedral is run by a mix of Chapter, consisting of clerics who don’t attend the cathedral, and the Acting Dean who will not be a member of Chapter.
“Naturally, decisions made by one are rejected by the opposite, and it’s an utterly chaotic situation. Decisions are made which should not shared or communicated with the congregation, and persons are extremely unclear about what is happening. The atmosphere of confidentiality mainly gives the look of concealing. It is unhealthy.”
In the wake of recent reports and social-media commentary, worshippers were, she said, “the topic of gossip and jokes, and the nice name of this institution is in tatters. I’m all the time having to reassure my children concerning the cathedral, and I find myself having to inform other relations that I’m not sending my children right into a dangerous situation on a Sunday. It mustn’t be like this. The lack of clarity or explanation is astounding.”
She urged the Bishops to “step in and help your fellow Christians, who’re suffering terribly. The cathedral is a toxic and unhappy place, and without drastic changes, I fear for its future.”
Writing on his blog this week, the Revd Dr Mark Clavier, Canon Theologian for the diocese of Swansea & Brecon, who also serves because the Bishop’s Chaplain and Priest-in-Charge of the Brecon and Epynt Ministry Area, suggested that events at Bangor Cathedral were the newest in a “succession of leadership crises which have unsettled our Church over nearly twenty years.
“These aren’t just unlucky episodes or isolated lapses. Taken together, they reveal a troubling picture — resignations, fractured relationships, governance failures, and a persistent lack of transparency — that may’t be explained away as coincidence.”
Since 2008, he wrote, one quarter of the Welsh diocesan bishops had “either resigned under controversy or else later faced serious allegations”. Two of the Church’s six cathedrals had “currently endured prolonged dysfunction” (News, 20 May 2022).
The Bangor Visitation considered the period from 2022 to 2024. In 2021, the Diocesan Secretary, Canon Siôn Rhys Evans, was appointed Sub-Dean and Canon Treasurer by the Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor, the Most Revd Andy John. Canon Evans didn’t exercise any ministry on the cathedral from March 2024, and, on 29 December 2024, an announcement on the diocesan website said that he was leaving his positions as Diocesan Secretary and Sub-Dean. Among the Visitation’s recommendations was that “any future appointment to the role of Dean or Sub-Dean needs to be exclusive of other responsibilities”.
In January, Canon Evans was appointed bursar and general manager of Westminster College, Cambridge, a URC training centre. A press release issued on behalf of the faculty on 21 May said that he was not in post. “Canon Siôn Rhys Evan’s probationary period was unsuccessful, and the term was not prolonged. As of 19 May, he isn’t any longer a member of Westminster College staff,” the statement said.
The Church Times has approached Canon Evans for comment.
