David Fletcher, a well-known figure for many decades in conservative evangelical circles, has died.
His ministry was appreciated for many years – but more recently he attracted controversy and anger because of his role in the John Smyth abuse scandal (en, passim).
A statement on the website of St Ebbe’s CofE Church, Oxford, where he ministered for many years, said simply: ‘We are sad to announce that David Fletcher died peacefully at home early on Monday morning (31st January, 2022).’
It continued: ‘Having been curate at St Mary’s Islington and then working for Scripture Union (during which time he ran the Iwerne Minster camps), David was Rector of St Ebbe’s from 1986–98. Please join us in praying for Susan and the family. We rejoice that, after a four-year battle with cancer, David is now at home with his Lord.’
Life and ministry
David Fletcher was born in London in 1932, the elder son of Eric Fletcher and his wife Bess, and educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, then at Repton. Following national service, David went up to Worcester College, Oxford in 1952 to read history.
In 1953 he was invited to help at a camp for boys from public schools run by Scripture Union (SU), and held at Iwerne Minster. Sensing a call to Anglican ministry, David entered Wycliffe Hall, Oxford as an ordinand in 1955 and from 1958 served a curacy under Maurice Wood, Rector of St Mary’s Islington.
In 1962 David Fletcher joined the field staff of SU, and in 1968 took on the leadership of the Iwerne Minster camp from its founder, E.J.H. Nash. In 1970 he married Susie Langford, a midwifery tutor. Camps would be held back-to-back each summer, with Susie leading the catering teams. Shocking news of aberrant behaviour by a senior leader, while away from camp, and the inadequate response to this abuse by the bodies involved, hit the headlines in 2017. John Stott, Michael Green and Dick Lucas are among those who attended these camps over their 90-year history.
In 1986 David was appointed Rector of St Ebbe’s Church, and the Fletchers moved to Oxford with their two children. His years at St Ebbe’s (1986–98) covered a time of massive change in society. Services became less formal and preaching robes were dispensed with.
Smyth scandal
After his death was announced, the Daily Telegraph reported: ‘He … ran the Iwerne camps, where a number of boys have claimed they were groomed by John Smyth QC, a disgraced barrister. Smyth, who was the chairman of the Iwerne Trust, carried out sadomasochistic, brutal beatings on dozens of young boys in his shed at his home in Winchester. He died of a heart attack in 2018 aged 77 at his home in Cape Town, South Africa. Rev Mark Ruston, the vicar of the Round Church in Cambridge, alerted Iwerne trustees to the beatings in 1982. His findings were detailed in the so-called ‘Ruston Report,’ which was buried.’
The newspaper continued: ‘David Fletcher was one of the few people who received the report. However, he never reported Smyth to the police. He also facilitated his relocation to Africa in 1984, received notice of beatings in Zimbabwe in 1989, and contact from the Zimbabwean lawyer David Coltart in 1993. Neither he nor Smyth ever faced any criminal action.’
Survivors and victims
A statement also reported by the Telegraph from some of the victims and survivors of Smyth said that with Fletcher’s death, ‘part of our truth, our story dies. There are now things we will never know, that we deserved to know’.
The statement went on: ‘David Fletcher leads a long, long list of people who knew about Smyth over 40 years, failed to stop him, and failed to disclose the abuse to authorities.
‘A generation of African boys will not mourn his passing. Lists of those who knew were given to the Church of England and the National Safeguarding Team almost five years ago, yet not one has faced any sanction. David Fletcher dies, criticised, with an enormous shadow overhanging his legacy.’
‘What will make us most angry is the paeans of praise that will inevitably mark his passing. In fact, he was a man who covered up horrific abuse for 40 years, and he must bear significant responsibility for Smyth’s continuing abuse in Africa. May that be his legacy.’
A review of how the Church of England handled the Smyth scandal is currently being carried out. David Fletcher’s brother Jonathan is the disgraced former minister of Emmanuel Wimbledon.
