‘I was handed over to the dogs’:lived experience, clerical trauma and the handling of complaints against clergy in the Church of England

Abstract

In 2019/20 the Sheldon Community sponsored a very large online survey of Church of England Clergy in collaboration with Aston University. It arose from concerns about accounts emerging from clergy with personal experience of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (CDM). As well as formal CDM, the survey captured experiences across a wide spectrum of processes including stage one ‘informal’ CDM, safeguarding assessments, other named procedures, and discipline exercised outside any recognised process or accountability. The responses from those who experienced formal CDM (after the letter from the Registrar) are examined elsewhere. This report focusses on all the other categories. The impact of these processes on the cleric’s ministry and on their emotional well-being is assessed using methods of thematic content analysis. The use and misuse of formal and informal processes may result in significant losses to the affected individuals and their families, long term damage to relationships within the parish, and losses to the wider church. The practical, emotional and spiritual impact may be traumatic and abiding. The CDM is slated for replacement. This research demonstrates the necessity of doing so with a deep understanding of the risks that may accumulate in the penumbra of a flawed Measure.