“I RESENT being made a pawn in church politics,” a rector has said after resigning from her charge in the diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney. She described the situation in the diocese as “untenable”.
The Rector of St Thomas’s, Aboyne, and St Kentigern’s, Ballater, Canon Vittoria Hancock, wrote to members of the congregation on 9 February to inform them of her resignation. She identified the “lack of pastoral care and understanding” of the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, as “contributory factors” in her decision.
Last autumn, Bishop Dyer’s suspension came to an end after disciplinary proceedings against her were dropped by the Scottish Episcopal Church’s Procurator, Paul Reid KC, despite his saying that there had been a “realistic prospect of conviction” (News, 11 October 2024).
Days after the decision was announced, four of the other five bishops in the Church publicly urged Bishop Dyer to consider her position, saying that the response to the ending of disciplinary proceedings suggested that “deep divisions will remain” if she stayed in post (News, 18 October 2024).
Bishop Dyer responded publicly, saying that her episcopal colleagues had chosen to “threaten” her in an “unprofessional and un-Christian manner” (News, 25 October 2024).
Canon Hancock’s decision to resign was reported in The Times, which quoted her letter. “The situation in the diocese over the last five years has been a source of stress and tension,” she wrote. “This has not improved over the last few months, and both sides have become increasingly entrenched in their positions, with neither willing to compromise.”
Bishop Dyer has been in post since 2018, but was suspended for two years while allegations against her were investigated.
On 15 February, a notice from Canon Hancock was posted on the public Facebook page of St Kentigern’s, Ballater, in which she said that media coverage of her decision was “deeply damaging to the church and to relationships within the diocese.
“I resent being made a pawn in church politics,” she wrote, after reiterating several of the points made in her letter, including her perception that the “level of stress and tension” she felt had been “exacerbated by my role in helping to provide pastoral care for clergy and readers over the last two years, and especially since the Bishop’s reinstatement.
“This has started to affect me spiritually, emotionally and physically. While my vestries and congregations have been hugely supportive of me, the situation in the diocese has become untenable.”
Canon Hancock also referred to the oath “to support and obey the Bishop” which she had taken at her installation, and which would “usually” be renewed at a chrism mass for clergy in Holy Week. “I feel I cannot with good conscience do this,” she wrote.
In the letter, she had gone into more detail, writing: “While I am happy to vow canonical obedience, I cannot with honesty and integrity vow to support and obey Bishop Anne personally.”
There is no chrism mass planned for Aberdeen & Orkney this year, but clergy in the diocese are gathering at the diocesan synod tomorrow (1 March). The Church Times understands that Bishop Dyer plans to attend, and that clergy and lay members of the Synod will be invited to reaffirm their baptismal vows.
A spokesperson for the SEC said: “There is no requirement in the Scottish Episcopal Church for a priest to renew vows to the bishop every year.”
