WHY is it that report after report comes out declaring that C of E responses to safeguarding are catastrophically awful? Why can’t we do better than that, and respond well to survivors of abuse as well as keep people safe?

Stephen Kuhrt’s controversial book gives one main reason: C of E culture is utterly invested in “untruth and injustice”. That is a startling thing to say, but I am convinced he’s right: “untruth”, because the Church shies away from addressing difficult issues, instead engaging in passive aggressive behaviour to keep the well-being of the Church as the focus; and “injustice” because survivors struggle to get justice.

Kuhrt, a vicar in south London, has huge experience in dealing with safeguarding problems in his parish ministry, and these form the core of this well-argued book and give it credibility. I read his book through the lens of being both a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and, as an adult, church-based abuse, and “untruth” and “injustice” ring true to my experience.

Kuhrt argues that the culture of the Church over the centuries has had many influences, such as the rather negative stiff upper lip of English public schools, which is so obviously present in the “Don’t rock the boat” attitude when someone raises a difficult question. He explores crucial issues, such as how we keep our church groups from becoming dysfunctional.

So, what is going to help the C of E to change its culture? Any kind of change in an organisation is hard, and in a complex one like the Church it will certainly take courage and hard work, as Kuhrt identifies.

As he says, it is hard to produce a critique of the culture that you live in, especially when there is a prevailing influence of denial and passive aggression. How does one “speak truth to power”? Kuhrt gives some examples of his having done that only to find himself being told to keep quiet. That should ring alarm bells in every member of the C of E. Deference and refusal to listen and engage with safeguarding concerns just end in cover-ups and no truth and justice.

This compelling book would have got my vote for Christian book of the year, and it gives me hope that the toxicity of C of E safeguarding can be rescued by the hard work of challenging the status quo. Change is needed in many areas, from the way in which we train curates to dismantling cultures of “wilful incompetence, manipulation and passive aggression”.

For some, Kuhrt’s message of root-and-branch reform is going to be uncomfortable, but I urge them to read this prophetic book.

His conclusions that C of E safeguarding is geared more to protecting the institution than caring for the vulnerable are convincing. He thinks that more heads need to roll. Perhaps the Church needs leadership by those with so much parish experience that they see safeguarding issues more clearly? Considerable change is needed. But in a community of the complexity of the C of E, who has the power to get that change going?

Dr Sue Atkinson is the author of Struggling to Forgive (SPCK, 2014), and editor of free downloadable leaflets for those who want basic information about abuse, available at: survivorsvoices.org

Safeguarding the Institution: How the culture of the Church of England facilitates abuse
Stephen Kuhrt
Dandelion Digital £19.99
(978-1-908706-54-6)
Church Times Bookshop £17.99