FOUR of the six diocesan bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church, including the Primus, have urged the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, to think about whether she is the fitting person to guide the diocese, in light of the response to her reinstatement.
On Thursday afternoon, the Primus, the Most Revd Mark Strange, and the Bishops of Edinburgh, Brechin, and Argyll & The Isles released an announcement to the Church Times saying that they’d urged Bishop Dyer to “consider whether she continues to be the fitting person to guide the diocese”.
A spokesman for Bishop Dyer told the Church Times that it was a “matter of profound regret” that the bishops had “sought to improperly pressurise her to step down presently and in this fashion”.
Bishop Dyer was first suspended greater than two years ago, and had been because of face a disciplinary tribunal on allegations including bullying and abuse of her position (News, 12 August 2022).
Last week, nevertheless, the SEC’s Procurator, Paul Reid KC, said that the proceedings had been dropped. Bishop Dyer said that she was looking forward to resuming her duties “in the times and weeks ahead” (News, 9 October).
Mr Reid said that, although there was “sufficient evidence to offer a practical prospect of conviction”, he didn’t consider it to be in the general public interest to proceed with a trial.
In their letter on Thursday, the bishops write: “We had hoped that the conclusion of the method would lead eventually to reconciliation and healing within the diocese. The responses and reactions we now have witnessed since then suggest otherwise and it is obvious that deep divisions will remain, each inside the diocese itself and more widely.”
They write that they’ve “sought a conversation” with Bishop Dyer “about one of the simplest ways forward for her and her diocese at this important moment”, but that they’ve been told by Bishop Dyer’s lawyers that, because she is currently on holiday, “for practical reasons she cannot engage fully on this conversation.”
The bishops write: “We have, nevertheless, set out clearly our concerns to her and on her return from holiday we will table these as a part of an urgent conversation within the College of Bishops.”
Bishop Dyer’s spokesman confirmed that she was abroad for a “short holiday”, and criticised the intervention by the bishops, describing it as “fallacious and unfair”.
“Many across the Church might be dismayed at this intervention, coming because it does after the proceedings against Bishop Anne were dismissed and when the main focus needed to be on Church unity.
“Some of Bishop Anne’s colleagues have now apparently decided to undermine the integrity of the Church proceedings, the choice of the Procurator and the choice of the Tribunal,” he said, and indicated that a “fuller statement” can be issued in the longer term.
Bishop Strange, who can also be the Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness, co-signed the bishops’ statement, with the Bishop of Edinburgh, Dr John Armes, the Bishop of Brechin, the Rt Revd Andrew Swift, and the Bishop of Argyll & The Isles, the Rt Revd David Railton.
“We are making this statement as individual bishops who serve the Scottish Episcopal Church in light of concerns raised with us over the past week,” they wrote.
There are currently six bishops within the SEC, because the see of Glasgow & Galloway is vacant. The only bishop, aside from Bishop Dyer, who didn’t sign the letter was the Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane, the Rt Revd Ian Paton, who has been serving as Acting Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney.
