THE Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, provided a reference for Venessa Pinto, a former member of the Church of England’s General Synod who who was prosecuted for stalking in her subsequent employment in the diocese of Leicester (News, 4 July), it was reported this week.
An article in The Sunday Times said that Ms Pinto was installed as a “pioneer evangelist”, funded by the Church Army, and personally licensed by Bishop Dyer.
The former Rector of St Devenick’s, Aberdeen, where Ms Pinto worked, the Revd Gerry Bowyer, told The Sunday Times that it “quickly became clear that Venessa was not suited to this kind of role”, and was “prone to outbursts of anger”.
Mr Bowyer made an official complaint about Ms Pinto, who in turn accused him of racism and bullying, the newspaper reported. The complaints led to two investigations, which did not uphold Ms Pinto’s allegations, and concluded that she had anger-management problems, but also that Mr Bowyer could have done more to support her.
Mr Bowyer said that he left his post in the Scottish Episcopal Church as a result of the stress that the episode caused. “I was exhausted, my wellbeing was suffering and I just didn’t have the emotional capacity to carry on,” he said.
Of Bishop Dyer’s involvement, he said that there was “absolutely no way” that she “did not know what was going on”.
The Sunday Times quoted a “Church of England insider” as saying that Bishop Dyer “effectively vouched” for Ms Pinto when she applied for the job in Leicester.
A statement from the diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney confirmed that Ms Pinto had served as a Pioneer Evangelist from November 2018 until March 2020. “Venessa was employed in Aberdeen by The Church Army, however, at no point was she directly employed or managed by the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney,” the statement said.
“Any grievances made against Venessa during her time in Aberdeen were handled by The Church Army. Neither the Diocese nor Bishop Anne had awareness of the details of these proceedings, so could not have provided this information to the Diocese of Leicester.”
In May 2024, Ms Pinto pleaded guilty to stalking Jay Hulme, a churchwarden at St Nicholas’s, Leicester. She resigned from the General Synod along with her elected position on the Crown Nominations Commission.
Bishop Dyer has herself been accused of bullying, but disciplinary proceedings against her were terminated last year by the SEC’s Procurator, Paul Reid KC. In his ruling, however, Mr Reid wrote: “I remain of the view that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction in respect of each allegation.” He opted not to proceed with the case, citing the harm that it might cause to the alleged victims (News, 11 October 2024).
Bishop Dyer subsequently returned to work in the diocese, after being suspended for almost two years.