A leading conservative evangelical organisation has responded to claims made about it in relation to a Midlands church.
The Anglican evangelical group Church Society (CS) has compiled a 45-page document about the situation at St Peter’s, Stapenhill, of which it is patron. There has been ongoing controversy about events there for some time, with hundreds of social media posts making various detailed and complex allegations.
The CS statement comes following a call from Kate Andreyev, wife of Stapenhill vicar Mike Andreyev, made in the pages of en in April this year. She had earlier set out her concerns on her blog, kateeandreyev.com, and on many occasions on Twitter.
In her letter to en that month, she and others said: ‘Church Society should simply address our grievances publicly on a point-by-point basis. We believe that if it does this, it will have no option other than to acknowledge wrongdoing and take restorative action.’
Now Church Society has responded to Mrs Andreyev by offering a detailed reply. The CS document concludes: ‘It was always our earnest desire and hope that the situation would be effectively and speedily dealt with by the properly constituted authorities in the Church of England. We believe in Anglican polity and do not seek to undermine it. However, we believe there has been a failure of church discipline at the diocesan/episcopal level here, leading to a prolonged crisis in St Peter’s church.’
It adds: ‘We have sought, as a national charity, not to take sides in a fragile pastoral relationship locally, despite pressure and demands from one side to do so.’
Since the report was published, Mrs Andreyev has described it on Twitter as ‘misleading and defamatory’ and has written a further blog post responding. Church Society has stated: ‘It is not the intention of Church Society to comment further on these matters. But we continue to pray for everyone in the church in Stapenhill, during these very difficult pastoral circumstances.’ The full CS statement can be read on the blog for 2 August at the churchsociety.org website.
