THE new Clergy Conduct Measure (CCM) received final approval from the General Synod on Wednesday afternoon to replace the much-criticised Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM).
The Measure passed overwhelmingly in all three houses of the Synod, with no votes against and only three recorded abstentions.
Members warmly welcomed the radical overhaul of clergy discipline, especially the new minor grievance track and protections against vexatious complaints.
A number of speakers, including the Archbishop of York, said that the CCM would help to rebuild trust in the workings of the Church of England.
Canon Kate Wharton (Liverpool), a member of the steering committee for the Measure, reminded the Synod of the significant changes being introduced by the CCM, which would divide complaints into three pathways, depending on the severity of the allegations.
There would also be streamlining of bureaucracy, the abolition of the 12-month time limit for serious misconduct, the integration of safeguarding professionals into the process, better protections against vexatious complaints, and more information-sharing between dioceses and provinces. Deposition from Holy Orders had been reintroduced for the most serious offences.
“To say we need to implement these reforms seems like an understatement in light of recent events,” Canon Wharton concluded. “The current system is sick, and we need a healthier one to take us forward.”
Many contributors to the debate spoke of the terrible toll that the CDM had taken on clergy who had been unfairly accused and dragged through a years-long stressful and complex judicial process.
Amanda Robbie (Lichfield) said that her husband now suffered from lifelong health problems because of the stress of a vexatious complaint against him. Rebecca Hunt (Portsmouth) told members that she knew of one priest who had a complaint made against him for not visiting a parishioner while they were in hospital.
The new grievance track available under the CCM should keep minor disputes out of an “inflexible and cruel” tribunal process, Canon Wharton said, as well as protect clergy from complaints arising from pastoral breakdown or doctrinal differences.
The full details of how the CCM would work in practice are still to come, including a definition of the distinction between misconduct and serious misconduct, and will be debated during July’s Synod meeting, when the CCM’s rules and code of conduct are due to be brought.
Members nodded through some minor amendments that would bring those clergy working for Royal Peculiars into formal disciplinary proceedings for the first time.
When the Measure came to a vote for final approval, it was carried in all three Houses: Bishops 25-0, with no recorded abstentions; Clergy 128-0, with one recorded abstentions; Laity 145-0, with two recorded abstentions.