Recently, confusion has reigned concerning the position of the government and Ofsted over the registration and possible monitoring of church youth groups.
During the period of consultation on the registration of groups who teach children for more than six hours a week, including churches, the Chief Inspector for schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw stated that he wanted Sunday schools registered and if problems were cited, Ofsted would ‘go in’. This implied there were no current mechanisms for investigating such problems, which is not the case. Any member of the public can go to the police or social services if they have concerns about any child in any setting.
No monitoring
However, the Prime Minister contradicted Mr Wilshaw, saying that he did not intend legislation to cover Sunday schools and summer camps. Mr Cameron is reported to have held ‘productive’ discussions with faith groups to ensure that the system is ‘targeted and proportionate’. This does not fit entirely with the PM’s assertion that he would not register church groups.
In an apparent attempt to recover ground between himself and Mr Cameron, Wilshaw, who was brought up a Catholic, subsequently talked about the ‘gospel values of love, compassion and tolerance’ which Christians should be known for and should ‘stand up for’. He then said: ‘It is perfectly legitimate for [people] to hold firm to a particular set of values and beliefs, which may run counter to existing social norms. What is not legitimate is to use these beliefs to condone or even encourage intolerance and discrimination.’
Church groups remain in limbo until this disagreement is over. Comments affirming the right of churches to hold counter-cultural beliefs are unlikely to fit with criteria so loosely defined using terms such as ‘respect and tolerance’ towards ‘different faiths and belief’. It is the interpretation of these terms which could be wielded against a church group teaching either John 14.6 or biblical marriage.
