As we journey into Lent we gather to confess our sins, to remind ourselves of our mortality and frailty, and to hear the call to repentance from our sinful ways – turning into the gracious heart of God.

Lent is a time for telling the hard truth about who we deep down really are. Although, it is often true that we would rather hide our brokenness and sin. As humans we have a fragility and vulnerability - not just as individuals but also as a society and as a church. The war in the Ukraine and Middle East and our shocking safeguarding failures as a church are reminders in the most horrific way of that brokenness.

Lent is not a time to hide our brokenness from God but to know that Jesus came to forgive us and heal us. In Lent we need to make time to weep, to make time to allow God to speak to us and to heal us.

Last month the Church of England gathered in General Synod. I am always conscious of the many people outside the room who faithfully serve and worship in the church. I do wonder what people make of the Synod’s proceedings and debates, and whether it all seems rather remote and disconnected from the rest of life. Yet the fact is that what happens there does shape our life as a church, so I would like to offer a few reflections on the February sessions.

Synod’s decision not to vote for operational independence in safeguarding was a bitter blow for many victims and survivors. While the decision to move towards independent scrutiny was welcomed by the majority, for my part I still believe that the best framework to achieve consistency across dioceses, and to secure the confidence and trust of survivors, is one which offers operational independence. That conversation has to continue.

This Lent, let us pray for the victims and survivors who have been deeply harmed by perpetrators within the Church and by the Church’s failure to respond. Let us pray for the work of our highly skilled and committed Diocesan Safeguarding Team and Parish Safeguarding Officers, who play a vital part in making the Church a safe place and a place of healing. Let us pray and act to make the Church a safer place.

There are aspects of church culture which have caused us to fail victims and survivors so very badly in the past: including our habits of deference and our failure to attend to imbalances of power. The Scolding and Makin reviews both shone a bright light into that culture. We may have learned a lot about spiritual power and its corruption in recent years, but those lessons are not yet embedded in how we operate.

Part of what holds us back is a lack of accountability at numerous levels. I spoke at General Synod specifically about the accountability of bishops – which is, I believe, sorely lacking. I have said that during my career in the NHS and in the Civil Service, I was clear to whom I was accountable and for what. That has not been my experience in the Church.

The new Clergy Conduct Measure, which will resolve some issues by separating serious misconduct from complaints and grievances, is a step forward. But it will not address the gaps and weaknesses in other policies, processes and practices. When issues fall through the gaps, so do people. Again, we have more work to do.

It would be easy to feel overwhelmed and despondent in the face of all this complexity, this disagreement, this need for significant cultural change, and most of all the horror at what we have done to victims and survivors.

As we enter the desert with Jesus, where he is tested, we are reminded that there, he must figure out what really matters and what doesn’t. There, he filters the voices of temptation from the voice of truth. There, he realises what he is all about: what he is called to, and what he is not.

So, we are not alone as we do the same; as we discern our part in watering the seeds of God’s kingdom; as we encourage the healthy growth of communities which serve the God who we see in Jesus; as we create safe spaces for one another and are accountable to each other in God’s love. We are not alone – God is with us. The God who is alongside us through all the challenges we face, the God who brings hope to the most complex and painful situations, is the God who accompanies us through death into the new and transformed life which we celebrate at Easter.

I want to thank all of the clergy for your diverse and wonderful ministries. I want to thank all of our lay officers for your tireless service and gifted contributions to the life of our worshipping communities. I want to thank our General Synod representatives for their staying power.

This Lent, may we know our brokenness and our need of repentance. But may we also know the grace of forgiveness. And may we truly live in the hope of resurrection, which speaks into our lives now with the power of transformation.

The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE

THE OLD DEANERY - DEAN'S COURT - LONDON - EC4V 5AA
T/ 020 3837 5200 - E/ [email protected]