IN THE wake of criticism of the hiring out of Church House conference centre for the annual Land Warfare Conference, a review of the lettings policy has been conducted by Oliver O’Donovan, Emeritus Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology, University of Edinburgh.

The annual general meeting of the Church House Corporation, held on Thursday of last week, heard that an “initial review” had been carried out by Professor O’Donovan. Commissioned by Dr Christina Baxter, who chairs the trustees, it has been released to members of the Corporation. It would not, however, be made public, a spokesman said this week. The trustees had “not drawn any conclusions so far”.

This week, the Archdeacon of Oxford, the Ven. Martin Gorick, who spoke of concerns about the hiring policy at last year’s AGM (News, 10 August 2018), praised the “very thorough” review, which had recognised the connection to “the Church’s institutional identity”. He understood that a working party was now being established to take the review forward.