UNITED KINGDOM
Crosby Herald
Jan 23 2014 by Jamie Bowman, Crosby Herald
A DAMNING report has revealed a “culture of bullying” at a Crosby church after a priest was forced out of his job.
A six-month episcopal visitation carried out by Bishop Stephen Lowe, in the wake of reports of difficulties at St Faith’s Church, on Crosby Road North, found “serious failings” among some churchgoers whose behaviour towards Father Simon Tibbs was described by Bishop Stephen as “not befitting of a Christian community”.
Bishop Stephen’s report, which was presented to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) on Monday, highlighted a number of issues at the church, which is described on its website as an “outward-looking inclusive community formed in the liberal Catholic tradition of the Church of England”.
Most serious of these is the revelation of “a culture among a very small number of members of St Faith’s that bullying and the undermining of Simon Tibbs are acceptable as a means to an end – his removal.”
The report describes how problems appeared at St Faith’s soon after Rev Tibbs’ arrival in January last year.
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