Gideons International has criticised former Gideons in the UK who have departed from the global umbrella body.
As en reported last month, the group formerly known as ‘GideonsUK’ was forced to change its name following a refusal by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office to register the GideonsUK trademark. That group is now called ‘GOOD NEWS for Everyone!’ (GNfE). The name change also came against the background of an equality issue – the international group is exclusively men’s only and had refused a move by UK members to admit women.
en had no response to requests put to Gideons International for a comment via email and via Twitter before that story went to press.
Protected by copyright
John Coldwell, UK national field coordinator for Gideons International, has that since contacted en and alleged the former UK members should not have continued to try and use the ‘Gideon’ name as he said it was protected by copyright. However, the trademark ruling following the international group’s opposition to the trademark application did not find dishonesty on the part of GideonsUK but found that it had fallen short of what was acceptable commercial behaviour.
Coldwell has also alleged that a public letter from GNfE suggesting that concerns about the Equality Act and the Charity Commission led to the decision to change the membership criteria was not wholly accurate and caused confusion.
He said: ‘For many years a small, but vocal, group within the Gideon Ministry in the UK had been pressing the leadership to change the membership criteria. They believed that a ‘men only’ ministry was outdated and that admitting women as members would make them more attractive to churches and supporters and would reverse the declining membership.’
Majority in favour
But by his own admission, a 2014 survey of members’ opinion revealed almost 80% favoured such a change.
‘When [immediate change] did not happen’, said Coldwell, ‘a certain member sought to force the action by writing to the Charity Commission accusing the Gideon ministry of being in contravention of the Equality Act.’
He acknowledged that, if challenged, a certain aspect of the membership criteria might be deemed to be in contravention of the Act.
Consequences known
At an AGM of the UK Gideons in 2018, a vote was passed to change its Constitution. Coldwell commented: ‘The UK leadership knew that by changing the Constitution against the wishes of the international governing body they would be expelled from the Gideon ministry and would not be able to use the Gideon name which is protected as an international trademark.’
en has approached GNfE a number of times in an effort to put these issues to them but had no response at the time of going to press.
