The Revolt at St Greg’s Continues

Today’s Times has run another article about the continuing problems at the church my Grandparents attended in Dawlish. Under the headline “Church choir walks out in revolt over vicars ‘bullying’â€? it reports that the Director of Music who has been in post for twenty years has resigned over the vicar, Rev Jerry Bird, insistence on introducing a restricted contract, ultimately centralising all control with him. As a result the choir have unanimously decided to resign in protest. Another member of the congregation has described the vicar’s attitude as “I’m the vicar, do as I say; no opposition or even mild criticism, will be tolerated.â€? Having said that, the situation has given the leader writer on the paper a chance to rewrite some hymns

One thought on “The Revolt at St Greg’s Continues”

  1. Hi, I can’t say I’m surprised at this; I’ve had loads of trouble at the church where I was the organist for 8 years, because the “vicar” is constantly on sick leave which is understandable, but he won’t delegate anything to anyone, which isn’t, and which means that the whole thing is dying after 700+ years. When I resigned, he just ordered me to keep going, and he genuinely seemed to think he could do that even though I was a volunteer. The problem, as far as I can see, is this: the Anglican Church (with a capital C) is not a democracy, it is a top – down hierarchical department of the state, run by bishops who sit in the house of lords and work for the state. I tried complaining to my bishop and got a reply which just basically said there’s nothing wrong. He doesn’t have to do anything, you see, for anyone other than his 2 archbishop bosses and the Queen, and lets face it, he probably doesn’t want to rock the boat.
    If you want to follow Christ’s teachings, I’d heartily suggest that you strike out on your own – Christ died for you personally and you can still bless the lives of other people by living the Christian life. You don’t even have to be a churchwarden to read the lesson when its just you at home. Other Christians will want you to join their organisations but beware – someone will be in charge, and it won’t be Jesus.
    We are all equal in the sight of God.
    I hope I’ve shed some light on something here – I don’t have any more answers yet, watch this space.

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