Martyn Percy

Ripon College Cuddesdon developed significantly from 2004, during Percy's tenure as principal: it incorporated the Oxford Ministry Course (OMC) in 2006, and the West of England Ministerial Training Course (WEMTC) in 2011,[9] making it the largest provider of Anglican ordination training in the UK. The college became internationally more active during Percy's period as principal: it works closely with the Anglican Church in Hong Kong and continues to have links with Anglican colleges in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. During Percy's time at Cuddesdon, the college moved from a distinctively liberal catholic outlook to the broader centre ground of Anglicanism, welcoming ordinands from across the spectrum, thereby reclaiming the "non-party" ethos that Bishop Samuel Wilberforce had founded the college with in 1854.

During Percy's tenure, the multi-award-winning Bishop Edward King Chapel (shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2013) and a new education centre (Harriet Monsell House) were built.[10][11][12] The college also became the first to incorporate a community of Anglican religious sisters, and to work alongside staff and students offering support in prayer and spirituality, whilst continuing to develop their own ministries of spiritual direction.

Percy was the (45th) Dean of Christ Church in Oxford from 2014 to April 2022.[13] He was the first dean to be democratically elected by the governing body, and instituted to the deanery on 4 October 2014.[14] Christ Church is the only academic institution in the world which is also a cathedral – being the seat of the Bishop of Oxford. In common with other cathedral deans, Percy, as Dean of Christ Church, was senior priest of the Diocese of Oxford. Percy's closing years in office as Dean (roughly from 2018 onwards) were marked by protracted disputes on reformation in the governance of the College.[15]

On February 4, 2022 Christ Church announced that a process of mediation had concluded and a resolution had been reached. Percy reportedly received a £1.2m settlement to drop his employment claim against Christ Church.[16][17]

The 2022 Annual Report of the Christ Church Governing Body stated that 'under the terms of the settlement, Dr Percy received monies to cover legal fees and compensation for early termination of his appointment. Including his salary to the date of his termination, Dr Percy received remuneration and taxable benefits during the year ended 31 July 2022 amounting to £2,149,374 including grossing up for income tax and employer pension contributions.'[18]

From 2018 Percy had faced over 40 different allegations from members of the Governing Body. All of the charges or allegations Percy had faced had either failed, been tried and dismissed or were successfully defended. In May 2022 he announced that he was leaving the Church of England because of his concerns over the management and 'weaponization' of safeguarding, as well as bullying and harassment within the church.[19][20]

In November 2018, Percy was suspended from office and an independently chaired internal tribunal was established. This followed a formal complaint which had been made against him relating to his attempts to reform and modernise the governance of the college. There were later claims that Percy was the victim of a "bullying campaign" by some members of the college governing body who opposed his reformist agenda.[21][22] In January 2019, the acting chair of governing body of Christ Church) sent a letter to college alumni saying that Percy's suspension was triggered by a pay dispute, though this was disputed.[23] Supporters of the dean criticised Christ Church's complaints process, as it was claimed no investigation or disciplinary hearing was necessary prior to his suspension from office and putting him on trial. Angela Tilby, a canon emeritus of Christ Church, wrote in the Church Times that Percy faced hostility for desiring to make the institution "more inclusive, more open to the outside world, and, perhaps, more aware of its wealth and vested interests".[24] Paul Bayes (Bishop of Liverpool) and Alan Wilson (Bishop of Buckingham) also conveyed public messages of support.

The statutory tribunal process Percy was subject to was presided over by Sir Andrew Smith, a High Court judge and estimated to have cost the college at least £1.9m. Percy faced 27 charges. On 21 August 2019, the college's governing body confirmed that the tribunal had concluded that all of the charges brought against Percy had been dismissed.[25][26][21] The college's legal fees are not known.[27] The governing body declined to engage with the detail of the judgement provided by Smith.[28] During the period of dispute, supporters of Percy raised over £150,000 to help cover the cost of his legal fees, which Christ Church had refused to pay.[29][21]

On 4 March 2020, the college announced that the dean was to be investigated by the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team (NST) over four alleged failures to report safeguarding cases in 2017.[30] Three further allegations were later added.

In May 2020, 41 members of Christ Church's governing body published a letter they claimed to have sent to the Charity Commission accusing Percy of "unsound judgment" and of having breached his legal, fiduciary and safeguarding duties since the Smith tribunal. The Charity Commission later confirmed it had never received this letter.[31]

A subsequent investigation by the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team over the course of six months cleared the dean of any safeguarding wrongdoing and on 8 September Bishop Jonathan Gibbs, the Church of England's lead safeguarding bishop said: "An independent investigation into allegations that the Dean, Martyn Percy, failed to fulfil his safeguarding responsibilities has concluded the Dean acted entirely appropriately in each case. At no point was there any allegation or evidence that the Dean presented a direct risk to any child or vulnerable adult."[32] Each of the safeguarding complaints were sponsored by Christ Church, yet no individual had ever made any complaint about Percy's safeguarding practice.

Four weeks after being cleared by the NST on 8 September, a further complaint was brought.[33] As with previous complaints, Christ Church referred the allegation to Thames Valley Police, the NST and was also party to bringing a case under the 2016 Clergy Discipline Measure. The college also sought to hold Percy accountable at two further internal tribunals where he would have to bear his own legal costs.[34]

On 17 November 2020, it was announced that Percy had voluntarily withdrawn from his duties as Christ Church dean in response to the allegation.[35] He did not resign, but "stepped back from his duties in the College and Cathedral".[36]

One of Britain's most senior Court of Appeal judges, Dame Sarah Asplin, President of Tribunals for the Church of England, carried out a detailed investigation. On 28 May 2021 she ruled that it would be "entirely disproportionate" for the claim to be referred to any clergy disciplinary tribunal.[37]

On May 13, 2022 Prospect Magazine published an article which included extensive reference to his experience with Christ Church citing the deliberate weaponization of safeguarding by elements and individuals within the Church of England as one of his major concerns.[38] On 27 May 2022 the college governing body published a statement responding.[21]

On November 10, 2022, the Charity Commission, the government regulator, issued an Official Warning to the Governing Body of Christ Church under Section 75 of the 2011 Charities Act for "mismanagement and/or misconduct by the trustees" in their campaign against the Dean, and recorded that £6.6 million had been spent in their actions taken against Percy.[39][40] The published Christ Church accounts also recorded an £8 million decline in donations during the four year dispute.[41]

The warning stated that "in the context of a long running dispute with the former Dean, the Commission has determined there has been mismanagement and/or misconduct in the management and administration of the Charity" (para. 9).

Percy is a social thinker, moralist and commentator, with his activism and writings addressing concerns for social justice and equality. He has spoken and written about the threat of schism in the Anglican Communion, arguing that churches should embrace the diversity of belief that exists, rather than allowing such divisions to result in separation.[54] In anticipation of the October 2003 Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting, which took place in the wake of the ordination of Gene Robinson as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, the communion's first openly gay bishop, he wrote of the need for a "slight loosening of the ties", to avoid a divorce. Illustrating this, he described Anglicanism as an "archipelago – a connection of provincial islands that shares doctrinal, liturgical and cultural aspects", as opposed to being "one vast, catholic continent".[55] He made similar remarks following Jeffrey John's withdrawal as Bishop of Reading, in July 2003, suggesting debate on gay rights should instead be shifted towards reflecting on the "more central gospel themes".[56]

Percy has been critical of Justin Welby's leadership as Archbishop of Canterbury, in particular his "managerial" style.[57] Percy described Welby's plans to send senior clergy on leadership courses, contained in the 2014 report of the Lord Green Steering Group,[58] as showing a poor judgment of the church's priorities and lacking in theological understanding.[59] He went on to say that Welby's targets for efficiency and growth were not reflective of the Christian mission, given that Jesus "didn't spend a lot of time going on about success."[60]

In August 2016, Percy renewed his criticism of Welby, describing the direction he was leading the Church of England as being "driven by mission-minded middle managers" that alienated congregations and the wider British public. He also raised further concerns about plans to divert funding away from traditional rural parishes and towards evangelical inner-city churches, warning that "it will take more to save the Church of England than a blend of the latest management theory".[61] Percy has also commented on an emerging theological anaemia among bishops in the Church of England, and highlighted the weaknesses and risks this poses for Anglican polity.[62] Percy's 2021 book focuses on the "humble church" and "commends humble leadership", criticizing church leadership.[63]

Percy preaching at the George Fox Evangelical Seminary in 2013

In an essay published in December 2015, Percy outlined his views on homosexuality, questioning the teaching that it is sinful and unnatural. Regarding the controversy surrounding the issue in the worldwide Anglican Communion, he noted that the church's position has alienated an increasingly progressive country, particularly the younger generation of Christians in Britain;[57] he also called on Justin Welby to formally apologise for the church's role in introducing homophobic teachings to cultures across the British Empire, during the 19th century:[64]

In 41 of the 53 countries within the British Commonwealth, homosexual conduct is still regarded as a serious crime. This categorisation and legal stigmatisation of homosexuality was largely 'made in England' in the nineteenth century, and imposed on cultures and emerging countries and that had not been, hitherto, homophobic. This is one of England's less wholesome exports. The Archbishop of Canterbury could begin the Primates' meeting by accepting responsibility for the part the Church of England has played in perpetrating this discrimination and the subsequent injustices – and publicly repenting of them.[65]

Just days before the commencement of the January 2016 Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting, Percy joined with over 100 other senior Anglicans, including Alan Wilson (Bishop of Buckingham) and David Ison (Dean of St Paul's),[66] in calling on archbishops Welby and Sentamu to acknowledge the failings of the Anglican Communion in its treatment of LGBTQ people.[67] Following the decision of the primates to penalise the US Episcopal Church, for voting to redefine marriage at its 2015 general convention, Percy expressed his disappointment. He went on to say that the meeting's statement regarding this action, "had nothing to say about LGBT Christians, and that's a lost opportunity".[68]

In the wake of the United Kingdom EU membership referendum in June 2016, Percy has argued that a national "failure of liberal values" was made evident by the result.[69] He has also suggested the need for a more "broad church" approach to British party politics, potentially in the form of a new centre-left party that is "authentically rooted in modern, progressive socialism, and equally true to modern, progressive, democratic liberal values".[70]

Since 2015, Percy has been actively involved in the campaign to restore the reputation of Bishop George Bell, following the Church of England's decision to compensate a woman who alleged that she had been sexually abused by Bell. He is a member of the George Bell Group and has published a number of key articles questioning the competence of those who have presumed Bell to be a perpetrator of abuse.[71] A subsequent independent report by Lord Carlile of Berriew found that there was no basis in law for presuming that the allegations made against Bell could have been sustained.[72][73]

In March 2018, Percy called for the church to develop an independent self-regulating authority to handle safeguarding issues, arguing that the churches can only be ultimately trusted as public bodies if they voluntarily relinquish some control over their own policies and practices.[74]

Percy's work on behalf of victims of sexual abuse in the church has continued alongside IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) reports focussing on the Church of England. This has included calling for better training and regulation in the churches, and greater fairness, justice and remedy for both the victims of abuse and those who may be falsely accused.[75][76]

In an article concerning the release by international artists of a music video about victimisation in Church of England safeguarding, Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 abuse complaints as well as the Church's employment of reputation management company, Luther Pendragon, and law firm, Winckworth Sherwood, the Editor of the Church of England Newspaper cited a detailed statement by Percy which he had published on the Surviving Church website:

The collusion, coverups, misconduct, incompetence and corruption in safeguarding are well known. The Archbishops do nothing. That is why we must all protest, and invite everybody to show solidarity with the abused, and stand apart from the Church of England until such time as it submits, completely, to public standards of justice and truth…then repents, apologises and starts full and proper redress for its victims. Until then, the Church of England remains unsafe, and is in unsafe hands.[77]

Following the General Synod's narrow rejection of a motion to legalise the ordination of women as bishops in November 2012, Percy wrote in The Daily Telegraph criticising church leaders for failing to create sufficient consensus about the issue. He described the view of opponents to the motion as maintaining a "conceit of modern times" by their fundamentalist rejection of diversity. He also voiced the need for the church to be "transformed by the renewal of our minds" in its approach to the inclusion of women in the Anglican Communion, by moving towards a "new future".[78]

In February 2017, he suggested that Bishop Philip North either decline his nomination as Bishop of Sheffield or renounce the views of The Society, a conservative body which does not recognise or receive the ministry of ordained women, or men ordained by women bishops.[79] North later withdrew his acceptance of the nomination, citing "personal attacks".[80] In a radio discussion of North's decision, Percy refuted the accusation that his position demonstrated a form of "liberal intolerance". He reasoned that resistance to discrimination is not equivalent to intolerance.[81]