Your answers
A Reader in our parish for two years is to be
"fast-tracked" to ordination and be the curate this year, not
having been to a Bishops' Advisory Panel. The churchwardens have
not been consulted about character or suitability. Can this legally
be done? Can any appeal be made, and to whom, as our Bishops are
not listening? [Answers, 9
May]
Canon Palmer's response is reassuring, but unfortunately out of
date. The requirement for ordinands to present evidence of a Si
Quis read without impediment being alleged was abolished in the
Church of England in 1977, in favour of such references as the
bishop deems necessary. The Bishops' Advisory Panel is precisely
that. Ultimately, it is the bishop's discretion (and burdensome
responsibility) to decide whom he shall or shall not ordain.
Have the churchwardens in question asked to see the (diocesan)
Bishop privately in order to share their concerns and hear his
response? It seems unlikely that any bishop would be unwilling to
do so, but, if he is, their only recourse is a formal complaint
against the Bishop under the Clergy Discipline Measure.
(The Revd) Neil Patterson
Weston-under-Penyard, Herefordshire
There is no requirement for a candidate to attend a Bishops'
Advisory Panel, and the bishop is under no obligation to ask for
advice or to accept the advice offered; but if the bishop decides
to bypass that procedure, there is no Ministry Division funding for
any training.
But a bishop is not at liberty simply to ordain on his own
authority. At the ordination service, the bishop is required to ask
"Have those whose duty it is to know these ordinands and examine
them found them to be of godly life and sound learning?" and again
"Do they believe them to be duly called to serve God in this
ministry?'" These questions are usually addressed either to an
archdeacon or to the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, and presuppose
some proper inquiry.
Later, the bishop asks the congregation "Is it now your will
that they should be ordained?" It makes sense for those who are
aware of any impediment to communicate with the bishop well in
advance, and for the bishop to make careful inquiry. It would be
foolhardy not to.
(Canon) Michael Sansom
Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot
Your questions
When the deanery synod meets in May, should the newly
elected be invited or the representatives for the past
triennium?
S. J. L.
Out of the Question, Church Times, 3rd floor, Invicta
House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TG.
questions@churchtimes.co.uk