by Richard Scorer
As The Times reported last week, my client Matt Drapper has received a damages settlement from St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield after being subjected to an exorcism to rid him of the “demonic possession” of homosexuality. Since I posted about the case many people have asked me for more information so this piece explains the factual and legal background. Stephen Parsons has written about this case previously; you can read his earlier blog here https://survivingchurch.org/2022/09/20/when-do-forms-of-pastoral-care-become-a-safeguarding-concern/
Claimant’s Allegations
At the outset of the case Matt provided the following account to me: this is a summary of what he says happened and I should state that this is not necessarily accepted by St Thomas Philadelphia. In 2013 Matt was accepted into a one-year internship programme at St Thomas. The internship was presented as a structured programme involving a mixture of training and working in the church’s publishing branch. The program was said to include education on discipleship, weekly sessions learning to listen and respond to God and mentoring to develop leadership skills. Matt declared his sexual orientation on joining the programme. He was aware that some people at St Thomas held negative views of homosexual acts but was told that the church was “on a journey” towards greater understanding. Therefore he did not think that his homosexual orientation was at odds with his involvement in St Thomas. On Matt’s account, at no point until the day before the exorcism took place was he made aware that the church or some in it equated homosexuality with demonic possession, and at no point until the exorcism was underway was he made aware that the purpose of the exorcism was to change his sexual orientation.
After joining the internship programme he was told that like other interns he had to attend an “Encounter God Weekend”. Ahead of the weekend he was required to complete a questionnaire including highly personal questions about his childhood and any challenges he was trying to address in his adult life. The completed questionnaires were passed to St Thomas’s ‘Prayer Ministry team’ seemingly so a bespoke prayer session could be planned. On the questionnaire Matt gave information about his struggles with understanding and accepting his sexuality within the Christian context. Although he was aware that some prayer would take place in connection with the matters identified, he had no forewarning until it happened that an exorcism would be performed upon him, or that it would be based on the belief that homosexuality arises from demonic possession. At the “Encounter God Weekend”, and the day before the exorcism, Matt and other interns were informed for the first time that certain activities or agreements formed legal contracts that allowed demons to enter the bodies of Christians, influencing thoughts and decisions, and that issues interns struggled with such as relationships, leadership, anxiety and fear were likely to be the result of demonic possession. A teaching session run by members of St Thomas’s “School of Inner Healing and Deliverance” instructed interns that “sexual impurity” allows demons to enter their bodies. Sexual impurity was presented in the context to include any sexual activity or sexual thoughts outside of marriage between a male and a female. Matt was thereby informed for the first time that as a person of homosexual orientation he had allowed a demonic influence to come into his life. He understandably felt very ashamed and afraid. Interns were also taught in this session that demons can leave the body as a rush of air and that if a person has a physical bodily reaction, negative response or feels a wish to cease the prayers, this in itself is evidence of demonic possession. Accordingly, as taught in this session, persistence with mandated prayers would be imperative even in the face of physical and emotional distress. On the next day, interns were ordered to undergo an hour of Prayer Ministry with two people who had been assigned by St Thomas’s “School of Inner Healing and Deliverance”. Matt was told that he was carrying the “spirit of victim” and had a “hereditary demon”. Matt was then instructed to use the following prayer and asked to repeat it and speak it over himself, with the “issue” inserted either being homosexuality or a word or phrase with similar meaning: “I break the power of (issue) over me. I confess my sin of (issue). I forgive those people who have spoken (issue) over me and I forgive myself for believing and entering into this belief system. With no guilt or shame, I renounce this belief system and the curse of it and I break it over my life through the blood of Jesus to redeem sin. I cancel my agreement with Satan. I forgive myself for believing this ungodly belief, renounce and break the agreement with this lie, cancel the agreement with the kingdom of darkness. Any associated demons GO in the name of Jesus with my authority”.
Matt received no prior warning of this prayer or any opportunity to consider its impact on him. Accordingly, he had no choice but to repeat it as instructed. Matt was then told that he needed to break any agreements he had made with Hollywood, the media or other people who had caused him to enter into the ungodly lifestyle of choice of homosexuality. He was instructed to repeat the following prayer: “I forgive myself for my lifestyle. Lord forgive me. I forgive other people who have shaped this lifestyle. I cancel my agreement with the kingdom of darkness.” He felt very distressed about this wording, of which he had no forewarning; he had never “chosen” to enter into a gay lifestyle nor did he feel the media or others had led him to believe he was gay. He had no choice but to repeat the prayer. The session leader then explained she also had another prayer that would “break” homosexuality away from Matt’s life. The prayer was as follows and was written on a piece of paper, suggesting it had been used before and would be used again: “I renounce my homosexual lifestyle and the belief systems that have allowed it into my life. I break the power of homosexuality over me. I confess my sin of believing the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable for me to live. I break the curse of it over my life through the blood of Jesus to redeem sin. I cancel my agreement with Satan. I renounce and break the agreement with this lie, cancel the agreement with the kingdom of darkness. Any associated demons GO in the name of Jesus!”
Having been ambushed with these prayers and required to say them in turn, Matt found himself experiencing an extreme psychological and physical reaction including intense pressure in his chest, tightening of his stomach and throat, and dryness in his mouth. He felt overwhelmed and in extreme physical pain. His distress was visible and very obvious. The session leader pronounced herself to be delighted with the distress exhibited and said “I can see demons coming out of you and leaving hand in hand, marching out of the window”. Matt remembers his eyes being hot and his vision was blurred. Following the exorcism he was very distressed, feeling ashamed of his thoughts, his sexual orientation, and fearful that he had been “making an agreement with demons” as he had told in the session.
Over the days and weeks following the exorcism, Matt became deeply depressed, experiencing suicidal thoughts. He felt totally isolated, but his mentor minimised what happened as normal. He felt broken by the experience. He experienced many months of extreme distress. In September 2014 he told church leaders that he was still gay and open to dating, He was then denied entrance to a second year of leadership training, due to still being gay. He was accepted onto another leadership team at the Church, and worked mentoring students until 2016 when he was quite suddenly told he could no longer be around the students due to his position on LGBT issues. He was told that he was a dangerous influence on young adults and children because he was openly gay and the Church thought this would influence others. He was shunned and silenced. Religion had formed a strong pillar in his life up to this stage, so the inability to access it began to impact his faith very heavily.
In 2019 Matt became aware that he had the option to make a formal complaint both to St Thomas and to the Diocese. In November 2019 he submitted a formal complaint to St Thomas’s and the Church of England Bishop of Sheffield which included an allegation that in 2014, he experienced Prayer Ministry which was an exorcism that attempted to change his sexual orientation from gay to straight. St Thomas’s investigated and responded to Matt’s complaint in December 2019 stating the allegations had not been upheld as there was “no evidence to substantiate….the complaint”. St Thomas’s position, in effect, was to deny that the ‘exorcism’ had occurred at all. In the legal claim we alleged that St Thomas’s had a longstanding practice of performing such ‘exorcisms’ and knew full well that Matt’s complaint was true, and justified, but chose to deny it in order to conceal the extent of such activity in the church. The Diocese of Sheffield were also aware of the complaint and undertook their own investigation. At the Core Group Meeting in September 2021 a decision was made to commission an independent investigation by Barnardo’s into Matt’s complaint. The independent report was published in November 2023 and all four of Matt’s complaints were upheld including the complaint that he was subjected to an exorcism which attempted to change his sexuality. Following the publication of the Barnardo’s report, St Thomas’s apologised to Matt, stating that: “With the Barnado’s review having been completed and having read the findings, I would like to apologise for what you experienced at the church in 2014 and for the way your complaint was handled at the time”.
Legal claim
St Thomas Philadelphia is a hybrid Baptist/Church of England Church and in respect of safeguarding and the conduct of exorcisms purports (and purported at the time) to act according to the rules and regulations of the Church of England. Church of England House of Bishops’ Guidelines for Good Practice in the Deliverance Ministry from 1975 (revised 2012) stated the following in respect of any ‘exorcism’:
1. It should be undertaken by experienced persons authorized by the Diocesan Bishop;
2. It should be done in the context of prayer and sacrament;
3. It should be done in collaboration with the resources of medicine;
4. It should be followed up by continuing pastoral care;
5. It should be done with the minimum of publicity.
On Matt’s behalf we alleged that that neither of the individuals who carried out the ‘exorcism’ were authorised by the Bishop of Sheffield to carry it out, although they were authorised by St Thomas’s . Further, the exorcism was not “done in collaboration with the resources of medicine”, nor was it “followed up by continuing pastoral care”. We pointed out that an exorcism conducted in breach of these guidelines carries the obvious risk of harm to the person upon whom the exorcism is performed. We alleged that the ‘exorcism’ constituted an intentional infliction of psychiatric harm, performed in the knowledge that similar ‘exorcisms’ performed by St Thomas’s Deliverance team had previously caused harm to others, and which caused personal injuries to Matt.
When I posted about this case on social media several people complained that the law is targeting and trying to stymie religious expression. This is nonsense. The legal basis of the claim (what lawyers call the ‘cause of action’) was the tort of intentional infliction of psychiatric injury. This tort has existed in English law since the 1897 case of Wilkinson v Downton and has been refined more recently in other cases such as O (A Child) v Rhodes and another (2015) (in which proceedings were brought on behalf of a child (11 years old and psychologically vulnerable) to prevent the publication of a book by his father, a famous concert pianist which described his experiences of sexual abuse as a boy; the claim failed in the Supreme Court as the elements of the tort were not made out). The tort applies equally and neutrally to secular and religious settings – for example it has been used as the basis of a claim against a school where a paedophile teacher groomed a child and encouraged her to send him indecent images of herself. The tort does not ‘target’ religion; if the elements of the tort are made out liability will follow irrespective of whether the defendant is religious or secular. Of course, the right of religious organisations to practice religion and worship as they see fit is guaranteed by article 9 of the European Human Rights Convention and the UK Human Rights Act; however, the article 9 right is not absolute and can be abridged where harm is caused to others.
In the event St Thomas’s denied liability but offered a settlement which Matt accepted. Therefore, this case is not a court ruling so it does not create a formal legal precedent. However, to my knowledge, this is the first ever payment of damages in response to a claim for psychological harm caused by conversion or exorcism practices. It confirms that a legal route exists by which conversion practices can be challenged where psychiatric harm is caused. Arguments may arise around whether the constituent elements of the tort have been made out, and around issues of consent (where adults are concerned consent may be a complete defence to a claim in tort) . Ultimately because of the settlement these issues were not adjudicated by a court in this case, but I am sure that there will be further legal claims. I would prefer that churches abandon these abhorrent practices of their own accord, but the risk of legal liability may also encourage them to do so. Church insurers may also be more reluctant to provide insurance cover to churches that engage in harmful conversion practices.
Richard Scorer is Head of Abuse Law and Public Inquiries at Slater & Gordon Lawyers (UK). He acted for Matt Drapper in this case
It’s a long time since I was part of the charismatic movement, but exorcisms were routinely performed in all the charismatic churches I knew. They still were up until at least a few years ago, but usually under the name ‘deliverance ministry’. This neatly circumvented the restrictions on exorcism. If you’re part of that scene it all seems very normal. We’re social creatures and easily become habituated to practices which seem very strange to outsiders.
As for not being allowed to see a declaration or oath before making it, no one told me before my ordination as deacon that I would have to swear an oath of obedience to the bishop and Queen. I didn’t know until the ordination rehearsal, and was then rebuked for asking to see it before swearing it.
A quote attributed to Bertrand Russell runs: “As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.”
The New Testament strives to share objective and discoverable realities: abundant evidence for design in creation, universal human conscience expressed across people groups, overwhelmingly credible evidences for the Easter resurrection.
Relying on authoritarian human leaders is best seen as a cultist form of blasphemy. Pig-headed bullies within the Church, including some bishops, have an absolute sense of their own authority. Law, education, health, accountancy advice, even from entirely credible experts, matters not a jot if Pastor or Bishop Clay-foot receives ‘a word of knowledge’…….
It’s the same argument right back ‘in the Garden’, moral relativism and ‘you shall be as gods’. The same lie that cast Adam and Eve out. When people in positions of power set themselves up as little tin gods who cannot be challenged, questioned or held to effective scrutiny or account, be it archbishops, royals, CEOs of corporations, hospital chiefs etc etc, then we see an elitism that basically becomes untouchable, can and does do what it likes and the results are always going to be from disappointing to sometimes horrendous and abominable. I’m just watching the BBC report on the broken water system in the UK and I know that’s off topic but for me all these things are tied together. A concentrated club of powerful and wealthy men are basically carving up the country and the spoils as they see fit with absolutely no regard for the majority of us. We need laws to hold them to account. All of them. I believe sadly that things will get worse before they get better and that powerful forces will fight tooth, nail and claw to keep things as they are.
As an aside, I struggle financially, my wife works a tough job and I am on Pip for a serious long term health condition. The Labour Party promised to tax the wealthiest but then backtracked and basically lied and proceeded to take money off the poor, disabled and marginalised of which I count myself amongst. I am bitterly angry at Starmer who is another kind of JW. The last round of austerity under the Tories from 2010 to 2020 was said to have involved the extra needless deaths of a 3rd of a million people. No outcry, no tears for them, no msm reports on the brutality of it.
I remember Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now saying ‘The horror, the horror of it all’. Likewise, I would hope other people see the horror of an establishment that worships money and power over the rights and welfare of vulnerable but definitely ordinary people.
What you describe gets even more dangerous within a Church context. Clay-footed know alls, bishops or other senior figures, accuse anyone who challenges or confronts them of heresy-blasphemy-opposing the proclamation of the gospel. It is ‘demonic’ to challenge the leader!
Toxic figures, who themselves blasphemously disregard fundamental biblical principles of natural justice, like following clear witness evidence, accuse anyone who dares to ask questions about their ‘anointed leadership’. People guilty of blasphemous disregard for biblical values, then accuse others of this, if anyone dares to challenge shoddy treatment of victims.
KCJ-DARVO-DNA is backed up with shoddy recruitment practice and-“a strong leadership team”-which gravitates to chumocracy-cronyism and cliques. Odd how friends and family fit into some very chummy teams, fixed up in a ‘providentially’ jigsaw fit pattern. Who needs skills or qualifications?
When words and law go out the window, numbers can also be sacrificed at the altar of ‘anointed leadership’. Are there rather a lot of scams and frauds associated with some para-Church groups? And is it very hard to understand income generation figures at times?
James, I enjoy reading your comments and I concur with you. The problems are fundamental, or the problem is a fundamental one, and that is are those top chaps in the hierarchy following Christ or following money and career options. My view is that a connected chap from a private school is 99.9% of the time in any powerful position because they are part of an elite, and little else matters after that. They are in those private schools primarily because their families are wealthy.
A ‘closed shop’ which essentially English and to some degree British society is, an unquestioned elite in every sector of society including I’m sad to say the CofE which is elite sanctioned faith that seems to focus much more on the English social system and obsession with hierarchy and tradition. As someone who is not part of any privileged elite I view most of it with indifference if not disdain, and this is because these people generally are not accountable for what they do in many cases.
I knew when JW resigned without a by or leave that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Such people do not just resign without something going on in the background. Personally, I have no dog in this race, but like most people feel disgusted and angry when powerful people mess up and other people’s lives are thrown into chaos, prolonged suffering and pain, the chaos and uncertainty of life when forces are arraigned against you and the perpetrators and those who should be taking responsibility at the very least skip away from it all with their huge stash of cash, a lawyer approved final statement they trot out endlessly and a quiet retirement away from the mess they’ve created. I want to see that change. At the very least compensation and redress for those damaged by unaccountable hierarchy and powerful people whoever they are. There are more of us than them after all.
Hi Timbo
There are some superb blog posts and dialogues here. It’s a strange one, but I am drawn to reflect on night-time fly fishing for sea trout or very large river trout.
The fly fisherman, when after large summer night trout, typically avoids complexity or brittle tackle in the twilight. The cast is short, 6-7 feet of 12lb-15lb line, with just one larger fly attached.
Apologies to anyone averse to bloodsports (or bloodsport metaphors etc). But I think our Anglican bishops and archbishops get away with a lot of ‘c111’ through keeping their well-tested tactics very simple.
Reams of paper and points in inquiries, often with ‘terms of reference’ which avoid personal responsibility or ‘name-blame-shame’, can disguise the plain simplicity of diocesan or para-church trickery.
Church tactics in BAH (bullying-abuse-harassment) cover ups are akin to an experienced fly fisherman’s summer night tackle. The effective and tested abuse cover-up recipe has proven and simple elements.
KCJ, DARVO, NDA’s, cliquish cronyism, sham recruitment , utter obsession with leadership authority and teams chosen to always follow the leader.
The Matt Drapper story has an elephant so obvious we invariably miss it. Why is there no Archbishop of York (now acting Archbishop of Canterbury) public statement and unreserved apology to the victim?
Does the situation played out here really discourage ‘gay conversion therapy’, or might it encourage-‘have a go merchants’-(without legal, clinical, education, psychology credentials) to covertly give it a crack?
Primate Stephen Cottrell (the York Minster weather cockerel) points tail feathers towards Sheffield. But it should be his open beak pointed to Sheffield, with an unreserved apology and a stiff warning.
Are the amateur Sheffield exorcists facing any sanctions or punishment? And WHY! WHY! WHY! are they not named? Would public naming protect others from Matt Drapper’s ordeal at their hands?
I am pleased that Matt received damages if that was meaningful to him but also hope he will see it as a call to fight for others who are far too afraid to take action of any sort . Very many people, including me, have experienced exorcisms that have ruined lives and in some notable cases led to the death of the victim.
Mental health practitioners, particularly in London deal with the legacy of ‘deliverance ministry’on an almost daily basis, particularly from black Pentecostal churches. I have used my own experience of this ministry to work with some of these practitioners to try and strengthen guidance around exorcisms. It is to be honest a thankless task in all denominations. Exorcisms are here to stay and getting more prevalent as the world becomes more unpredictable.
I think that very few adults that have gone through exorcism would see their participation as consensual it is in the vast majority of cases religious coercion.
Yes, and as Stephen mentioned on a post here I have just been reading, the ‘you have a demon/you are possessed!’ starts to sound dangerously like the accusations of witchcraft or heresy in the dim and distant past, another way to silence any dissent within a church and a time honoured way of somebody gaining power over another person and put them through a situation they would not wish on themselves.
Aside from this, I do believe people can be demonised and be under concerted spiritual attack, I have experienced certain things myself and have spoke to friends who have and are going through various situations which they implicitly believe are spiritual in origin. My first reaction to any such story is not to fear or ridicule or anything else, but to pray for that person and also tease out gently and honestly with scripture as first point of reference what they are experiencing, how they feel, what they think caused it and then to firmly emphasise that the Lord is sovereign in all human affairs. Gentleness, compassion and some truth is necessary and prayer also. I’m happy to discuss this issue further but won’t be offended whatsoever if no one takes me up on it! What I have witnessed is when my friend who has struggled with persecution and voices which we both believe is supernatural in nature, and definitely negative, was how many pastors, priests and vicars of many denominations were very reluctant to get involved other than speaking and a few brief meetings. I completely understand this. I think many will err on the side of caution. Also, there are no specific formulas in the Bible for healing or exorcism just asking in prayer for that healing. If it doesn’t come, as Paul said after he prayed 3 times to be rid of a ‘messenger from Satan’ he said God spoke and said ‘my grace is sufficient’, and that His strength would manifest more so in our weakness and infirmities of many kinds.
Fear is not needed just asking the Lord regularly into anything like this.
Really pleased for Matt that he pursued this and was awarded damages.
He’s been through an appalling, psychiatrically harmful experience and then gaslighting and minimising of this harm from the church and the diocese.
Well done to Matt and Barnados. It does set a useful precedent and I hope the publicity around his case leads to a total ban on conversion therapy including that which targets trans folk.
That church which harmed Matt was planted out of the church hosting the nine o clock service in Sheffield in the 90s – St Thomas’s.
I have written previously about my experiences of homophobia from clergy in an “inclusive” con evo church in Manchester… the rector at the time (who failed utterly to deal with homophobic clergy and instead lied in a CDM about me, in writing), and another church leader at that church both came from St Thomas’s.
Architect of some very heavy discipling methods at St Thomas’s who then moved across the pond, Mike Breen, was also part of this church, who took his methods of coercive control with him and recently had to step down due to his relationship with a vulnerable adult in the church there.
Matt’s case does make me wonder just how much of this harm could have been prevented if the people, culture and systems which enabled the cult of the nine o’clock service to thrive had been properly investigated and action taken back in the 90s to prevent further harm? Instead some of these ultra charismatic cult-like leaders have multiplied and perpetrated untold amounts of harm.
Dear Stephen, thank you for your blog and also thank you to all those who have contributed to this thread. I have quite a lot of experience of churches and Christian groups of all kinds. I would say that most church leaders I have known are very cautious about deliverance. They are aware of what they don’t know, for one, and also that it’s not a priority for us in one’s Christian walk. If God sees something as important then He will make sure it’s dealt with. The rest of the time, I believe that so long as we are growing spiritually, the things that shouldn’t be there are released or get driven out. Is this exorcism? I think it depends on whether we see exorcism as evil spirits being cast out or spiritual blocks of any kind being removed. Personally, I don’t think it makes much difference what we call it. I remember sitting in a congregation and opening my Bible randomly and reading something that cut through me like a knife. I had a physical manifestation of something being released. No one else was aware of it. No one else was directly involved. I have had a few experiences like that, even in my sleep. I think it’s ongoing too. Different things come to the surface at different times. However, it’s very valuable to have trusted people to go to and confide in, who will not judge, but who will listen and pray (or not) with you and leave you with the assurance that God loves you unconditionally and has your back. Of course, this is very rare in Christian circles. If someone with a different sexual orientation confides in even the most loving and enlightened Christian, that confidante is likely to default to ‘a curative measure’. It’s the generally received doctrine. In truth, God meets us as we are, knows everything about us but loves us anyway. God cannot be any other way. If church groups are not reflecting that then it means their members have not fully received that truth themselves. I would say that anyone who doesn’t feel like they fit neatly into the mainstream might be better off in a large well-established church with a lot of diversity and less intense scrutiny, and then seek knowledge and help from a range of other sources like ordinary qualified secular counselling and good spiritual practices (Bible reading and personal study, reflection, meditation, prayer, and sifting through teachings). I remember being in a large and very popular Baptist church that was totally regular, had distributed leadership that could accommodate diversity, and gave its members space while remaining interested. It got criticised quite a bit for being overly middle class or at least ‘not very radical’, but what I noticed is that a gay friend of mine would go there and no one poked their nose into his personal business. These things were not issues because Christ was at the centre. No one mentioned deliverance either, not for anything, and it would not have been treated as any kind of ‘miracle cure’. Life, including the Christian life, is a journey. We encounter problems, we attempt to resolve them, we learn, we grow, we make choices. We have a whole shadow side to acknowledge and bring into the light and baptise. The role of the church is our lives can actually be a supportive one in so many ways. ‘Demonising’ things might not be one of them. Sometimes, there might be something to exorcise but it’s just a step in a much bigger and more complex process.
Many thanks to Ricard Scorer. A most interesting report.
It fascinates me how Matthew Drapper gets his name in the headlines or disseminated online. Yet there are few Diocese or Church leadership names listed in any report on this.
Let’s imagine a different scenario. Suppose a person-‘P’- was unreasonably detained under UK mental health legislation, with police, social workers, nurses and medics mentioned (but not named) in an official report which was highly critical.
The report believes-‘P’-had capacity, did not represent a risk and was unfairly stripped of their liberty. Names would be flying around, and regulatory bodies would be inquiring after alleged misdemeanours by named professionals.
The victim here gets attention drawn to their name. But Church leaders (or workers) appear quite invisible. Did the local diocese reject the victim’s four allegations of unfair treatment, yet an independent inquiry uphold all four allegations?
The central point is how the victim felt what they perceived to be a form of exorcism was unreasonably employed. This situation really is shocking beyond words.
Why are safeguarding experts not named, with their qualifications listed and their status on regulatory or professional bodies listed?
The UK Church problem extends way beyond the LGBTQ+ and other minority groups.
KCJ-DARVO-NDA and cronyism in cliques is killing the UK’s institutional Church.
But our Anglican bishops like the status quo and want to avoid upset………
The Journalists’ Prayer
Almighty God,
strengthen and direct, we pray,
the will of all whose work it is to write what many read,
and to speak where many listen.
May we be bold in confronting evil and injustice,
and compassionate in our understanding of human weakness,
rejecting alike the half-truth that deceives, and the slanted word that corrupts.
May the power that is ours, for good or ill,
always be used with respect and integrity;
so that when all here has been written, said, and done,
we may, unashamed, meet Thee face to face,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Maybe we should celebrate the role of a free press and the media, as countless Anglican scandals are uncovered. The Cottrell (abuse weather cockerel) on York Minster may be broken, and turning its gaze away from stories of abuse. But the tail feathers are getting a damned good tug from the media so that Cottrell’s eyes and beak are pointed to abuse cover ups. Maybe the cockerel could be taught to say just one word: Sorry.
The precarious state of journalism these days, particularly investigative journalism, follows the path of politicians, big business and every other institution as in they are bought and paid for and care little for truth, honesty and simple dogged enquiry and fact finding. There is now an agenda underpinning almost everything, an ‘on message’ filter that one must adhere to if one aspires to rise into and up the ranks. Anyone honest, anyone truly curious or skeptical about power, geopolitics, the state of the nation and politics and the rampant corruption in plain sight will be sidelined, marginalised and will not rise in their careers.
I have suggested before today that the Mark of the Beast is not some chip or visible sign but individuals following and allying and applying themselves to evil and thoroughly corrupt regimes and rising in the full knowledge of what they are doing, that is to be unjust, corrupt and cynical in unjust, corrupt and increasingly cynical societies like the UK is becoming.
WW1 led to abandonment of traditional European religion, in favour of either atheism or alternative spiritualities. We must have sympathy (or empathy) with those people of the past, faced with the loss of friends or relatives, who resorted to trying spiritualism etc.
Likewise, a dash for Marxism-Socialism and atheism, is perhaps kind of understandable after the trauma of WW1. But the Nazi machine, for those who lived through its defeat in WW2, caused many survivors to believe in supernatural evil, and light clashing with darkness.
As the shadow of the Nazi’s gets less plain today, post-modernity (absence of any absolute truth) is flavour of the month. I think you are on the money. To say “Jesus is the truth” means less to a child of the 2020’s than what it did to a 1960’s-1970’s child.
I remember those deep silences of Remembrance Day in the 1970’s. I could feel the solemn reaction of adults, but it has taken decades to understand what they were expressing.
Evolution and Science change probably had less impact on the European rejection of religion than the media imagine. WW1 is when things changed hugely.
Post-modern disbelief in absolute truth maybe facilitates Church abuse cover-up. And then there’s the vast mass of UK sleaze everywhere at the minute, not just in the Anglican Church…….
What an incredible comment! Yes to all of the above and so beautifully and clearly expressed.
Like you, I have read upon a lot of what you mentioned and it does seem as the embers and memories of WW2 have long burnt away and been forgotten, the same forces have come out of the woodwork but in a different fashion.
Under Hitler’s Nazis, we did see for the first time in the modern era an absolutely evil, amoral and spiritually bankrupt regime that sank to levels we could not imagine. It goes beyond the ‘all that evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing’, it laid bare the worst excesses of the human psyche unchained from any normal values and constrained only by the unhinged nature of Hitler who waxed worse and worse.
I never lived through those times but my parents did. Sadly, I think we are absolutely regressing spiritually and morally again and the decline of those values is always followed by decline in other areas like politics, economics and in the social sphere. You only have to look at society now, not a day passes without scandal, corruption, financial shenanigans, the mess and expense of privatisation, the rise of prices and wage stagnation and so many other things. It’s a never ending list and what galls me is that much of it is avoidable, unnecessary and could be fixed by a proper taxation system. In a very wealthy country this would be easy but powerful forces oppose it, the same forces that oppose fairness and justice and a more level playing field. All of it really boils down to wealth and power, little more. All a striving after wind, after all.
The world will go through its horrendous ups and downs. The response of the Stott party was solely to contrive material influence (Alister Chapman’s biography ‘Godly Ambition’ described as “empathetic”, “judicious, fair-minded” nonetheless shows how devastating the evidence is). Having been caught trying to take over the Methodists, and trashed the thoughtful nonconformists for any of their spiritual support, it seized on exotic power grabbers and empire builders for trendy “expressions”.
Stott’s book ‘Basic Christianity’ chilled my marrow at age 17 but now I can say why (it was spiritless).
The present generation of discontents (of secret “non” ordinations) don’t understand why they are discontented (they only know how to copy those whom they are discontented with), and it must be devastating for anyone who was “confirmed”. At the pragmatic level doctrine comprises material absolutism (previous and next threads, and what was done to the bishop of Warrington) and enforcing of material Freudianism (this thread). Giving individuals leeway to describe their own meaning of their own, partly non-material, habitus in no way does that (habitus means how you experience your own body language).
In the interests of somewhat decomplicating the present overcomplications (and allow Holy Spirit a chink of entree) it’s to be hoped the next A of C will not be chosen by:
~ oil salesmen
~ Distinguished Public Servants
~ foreign diplomats
It’s also to be hoped that Queen Anne’s Bounty will be restored to precedence. Where there’s a (ordinary Scripture believing) good spiritual will, means and ends will get met.
Frequently and quietly reciting the Lord’s Prayer and / or the Doxology (without permission) could do wonders without fuss. Psalm 1 urges individuals to shun the codependency systems of those bigger than us or in our past and to be directly rooted. Don’t look to operatives to show you how.
I was interviewed at length by a BBC journalist yesterday and detected no agenda other than to get at the truth of the story he was covering.
We are indebted to honest journalists from the broadcast media and the serious newspapers for uncovering many a major or minor scandal. They perform a vital function in our society.
ANGLICAN INK has a July 23, 2025 post-‘ARCHBISHOP STEPHEN COTTRELL WELCOMES INDEPENDENT SAFEGUARDING AUDIT REPORT-A report following an independent review of the Diocese of York and York Minster’s…’
The report is practically unreadable. Are there report conclusions in a form ordinary people can understand?
So no comment about what has been described as a ‘gay exorcism’ in Yorkshire. Just a photo of Cottrell smiling at the door of York Minster.
So is safe-guarding (guarding the diocesan safes?) limited to only VAs and children? Everyone else can just get stuffed.
Maybe the CoE should have ‘exorcised’ Cottrell in the wake of the Rev David Tudur scandal…..
Incidentally, I Googled John Smyth. He really was a nasty piece of work wasn’t he?
The ‘gay exorcism’ took place in Sheffield Diocese, not York Diocese. Not teh Archbishop’s pigeon. I haven’t checked to see if the Bishop of Sheffield has commented on it.
However, the Sheffield Diocese does have a statement on its website re the Chris Brain trial which is currently taking place.
In Archbishopric of Cottrell? Yet no comment condemning it.
Bishops operate largely independently of archbishops in their own dioceses. Neither the Bishop of Sheffield nor the Archbishop of York would see the necessity for Cottrell to comment on what took place in a Sheffield parish. Cottrell has plenty of issues he can and should comment on and perhaps apologise for, but the ‘gay exorcism’ isn’t one of them. It isn’t how the C of E is structured.
No! That’s possibly too easy a clerical get out. The Archbishop is the CEO. That’s surely part of the reason why the Primates in Wales and England both had to go. The mythology, widely spread about, is how a Bishop is top dog: ‘answerable only to God’. This needs to be challenged.
Bishops are answerable to their Archbishop overseer, to the House of Bishops and to the laity. A great deal of the BAH (bullying, abuse, harassment), and also its demonic cover-up, might have been avoided if we ceased venerating bishops as ‘diocesan deities’.
‘Rt Rev’ needs to be earned, not assumed. The overseer for the Diocese of Sheffield and the Archdiocese of Sheffield should not be silent on the Matt Drapper case.
It is neither ‘Rt’ nor ‘Rev’ to cover up a so-called ‘gay exorcism’, nor for Bishops and Archbishops to be silent after the abuse is uncovered by media and legal compensation. The two regulatory bodies, for UK psychiatry and psychology, would name-shame-punish practitioners involved in unlawful abuse of gay people. The Church response to the Matt Drapper settlement is woeful.
Archbishops are not CEOs of C of E plc. Diocesan bishops are almost entirely independent within their their own fiefdoms; they are not managed, let alone micromanaged, by their archbishop. They don’t answer to an archbishop or to General Synod. That’s one reason archbishops find it almost impossible to enact change even when they want to. They are not even supposed to visit a parish in another diocese without informing the diocesan. This structure may be something that needs to change, but for the foreseeable future it’s what we’re stuck with.
There are plenty of valid grounds for criticising Archbishop Cottrell, but I don’t think his failure to comment on another man’s brief is one of them.
A Bishop who behaves with contempt for Church rules-national law -biblical principles of justice needs to be challenged. The Anglican House of Bishops, and also our Archbishops, have a duty to act in extreme situations like this.
A couple allegedly doing a ‘gay exorcism’ is a situation which demands a robust response. There is absolutely no excuse, none at all, not to have a meaningful and open Church initiated independent inquiry.
The absence of a full formal inquiry undermines confidence in the Church. Church rules about exorcism are very specific. It looks like there has been a cover up of highly dangerous homophobic abuse. Alarming questions clearly might also arise in regard to capacity and consent.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND STATEMENT ON DELIVERANCE MINISTRY-with 4.1.5 of special interest-see below where is cut and pasted-
4.1.1 Deliverance Ministry must only be carried out in accordance with the House of Bishops Guidance on Deliverance Ministry.
4.1.2 Diocesan Deliverance Ministry Teams must have access to, and consult and work with, other clergy, medical practitioners, psychologists and psychiatrists who are employed by (and thus accountable to) local health services and will be bound by their own codes of professional conduct.* Where formal rites of deliverance are being considered, a medical professional must be consulted, and all issues of consent, capability and ongoing safeguarding actions must be discussed with that person.
4.1.3 The Deliverance Ministry Team must meet with the DSA on at least an annual basis, the purpose being encouraging joint working and knowledge sharing.
4.1.4 Formal rites of deliverance, including those involving touch, must not be carried out on any person under 16 years of age without parental consent, which must be confirmed in writing. In the majority of cases involving young people aged 16 and 17, they are able to give consent in their own right, but issues of age and consent should always be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In other words, it is a judgement call and the medical professional will need to make an individual assessment of the competence and understanding of the young person at the time. In addition, with 16-17 year old children consideration should still be given to whether or not the parents should be informed and the decision documented. In all cases, the rite must have been authorised by the bishop after consultation with the DSA and a medical professional
4.1.5 For the avoidance of any doubt, and in line with the decision of the General Synod of the Church of England in July 2017, it is made clear that nobody, whether a member of a Diocesan Deliverance Ministry Team or otherwise, is permitted to use any form of deliverance ministry in pursuit of changing or influencing somebody’s sexual orientation. This applies whether or not the individual concerned wishes to receive such ministry. Individuals asking for such ministry must be treated with compassion and understanding, and should be referred both to pastoral support and to links to appropriate resources
*There may be circumstances where the mental health professional is not in local health service employment, but is in private practice or academia. In these circumstances, they must be members of the appropriate professional body, e.g. Royal College of Psychiatrists or British Psychological Association.
Very interesting. I guess they haven’t lived up to their own standards.
As a side note, but something which I think may be of interest, I don’t think it’s possible to change a person’s sexual orientation in that way, I think we all need prayer in any event. Funny how it’s only gay people that are the focus too, not women or men who sleep around in a heterosexual lifestyle or men who focus on teenage girls etc. My own view is that we sacrifice any temptation in the knowledge that Christ is bigger and He has already triumphed over the world. Perhaps we do need rules and guidelines, in fact we do, but often rules and guidelines are used as a stick to beat others with injudiciously as we see here and everywhere really. Not growing up churched but coming to Christ from a non Christian family I might have a different perspective from other people on here. I only know that you can’t beat homosexuality out of anyone and it is neither just, fair or compassionate to even think such things yet the Bible condemns this sin as it does many other sins.
Our remit, our calling, as Christians from many walks of life is to find that balance, one being loving the sinner but hating the sin and many other such things and these have to be done genuinely, honestly and with love in all events. A top heavy power structure can never really accomplish that.
I have attended a number of churches, CofE, hardline Protestant, Baptist, Pentecostal and evangelical and would say that the churches that seemed on fire for God and lived and preached a Christ like and Christ focussed message were those rooted in local community, ordinary people and not where the vicar is/was very middle class or not really part of the community. I believe we need to be rooted in the soil of ordinary people and their faith not navel gazing at the great and good, royalty and such which the CofE seems to focus on. Most of us are just ordinary people, we don’t live in palaces and we don’t have power or connections. In that sense we have no choice but to be lawful and do what is right.
Perhaps ultimately the problem is one of hierarchy, the great and the good and structures tuat need and aggrandise power and powerful people when there is no need for any of it?
A church by its nature should be grassroots and grassroots led and in community is what I’m saying. Maybe through all of these things, we need to get back to that and what church really was meant to be.
Like you, I deplore the way Matt Drapper was treated. However, it’s not the case that only gay people are the targets of this sort of ‘ministry’. Churches which adopt this framework of beliefs generally believe that any number of things can lead to demonic possession: any sex outside marriage; any occult practices; having been sexually abused; freemasonry, etc. And having an ancestor who had been involved in any of these things can lead to all the descendants being ‘demonised’. Ellel and Sozo, among other organisations, have been teaching this dangerous nonsense for years.
From a psychology (or psychiatry) angle these arguments do not entirely stack up. The risk of enduring harm inherent within gay ‘exorcism’ or ‘deliverance’ is surely different. There is a more direct attack potentially on the victim’s self-identity or sense of worth/dignity.
Freemasonry, whatever angle one takes on its spiritual status or value or danger, is external to the person receiving prayer or ‘deliverance’. Also, there’s a fine line between a prayer of blessing, and something which could be interpreted as protection from spiritual harm.
When we move to fuller ‘deliverance’ or major type exorcism, then the Anglican Church rules are plain. From looking at various reports on the Matt Drapper situation, it looks and feels as if a threshold was crossed.
It’s sad how our bishops and archbishops fail to deal with a situation where longstanding doctrinal policy statements were ignored. This is revealing, and helps Anglicans understand how so much BAH has been covered up.
Any exorcism is an attack on the subject’s self-worth and identity, because by definition it says there are demons inside you. It’s never external. Neither a prayer of blessing nor a prayer for protection from spiritual harm is the same as having a demon cast out of you. I can testify to that, having been subjected to ‘exorcism’ or ‘deliverance ministry’ several times for various purported reasons – some trivial and some integral to my physical and psychological make-up.
No, I don’t agree. To pray for the negative impact of personal (or past family association) with Freemasonry or similar, is surely very different from what Matthew Drapper seems to have faced.
‘Deliver us from evil’ in Matins is different from a major exorcism rite. ‘Deliver us from evil’ might cover any potentially negative aspects of past family association with Freemasonry or the occult or supernatural forces. Prayers of blessing and everyday deliverance can have blurred boundaries. Also, some books speak of minor and major exorcism.
Practically every human ever born has a sexuality and a gender identity. A ‘gay exorcism’ prayer is surely seen by many as a potential assault or attack on deeper aspects of a person’s psyche or sense of identity. That’s why it is so dangerous. The potential for harm, with disclosure of sensitive issues to non-professionals, is also massive in itself, even before we move on to the ‘exorcism’.
People might often over time share personal secrets with close friends or family. But the idea of Matt Drapper (and presumably others) spilling their personal sins to group leaders sounds outrageous. Roman Catholicism has a facility for this in confession, and Anglican priests speak of ‘interesting’ private chats. But that’s often where a trusting priest-communicant relationship is established, and privacy-confidentiality is assumed.
Major exorcism generally assumes a person is in bondage, and supernatural evil has been given an open door by the victim (or some people speak about generational curses on a family). The C S Lewis advice is good, about not obsessing on supernatural evil (seeing devils to be exorcised from every door knob), but not being naive about the reality of supernatural evil.
Church of England policy is very precise about major exorcism. There is also a very exact statement appearing to give gay conversion therapy (or gay exorcism) a really wide berth. What we have here, with Matthew Drapper, is a scandalous contempt for agreed practice, and the Anglican Church’s own rules.
Our bishops are not incentivised to address this most dreadful of situations. Our best defence, against dangerous and shoddy Church practice, is for Church members to study official doctrine on major exorcism.
Consider a prayer generically seeking divine blessing and protection. It humbly seeks God’s help, and this may include protection from supernatural evil. But it fully respects intrinsic personhood, and in no sense could ever normally be seen as an attack on the individual.
I have attended fundamentalist evangelical churches, and thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship. I have also attended Anglo-Catholic BCP traditional parishes, and also enjoyed the rites and fellowship.
For a time (around a decade) I was connected with charismatic-evangelical groups. They seemed to have minimal interest in ethics-scholarship-reason-logic-law-pastoral care or bible interpretation. It’s interesting to see the various groups Venessa Pinto was connected to.
I don’t think there’s any point in making comparisons between how damaging a ‘gay exorcism’ is and the harm caused by e.g ‘exorcising’ spirits deemed to have entered via severe childhood sexual abuse. But I can tell you I have undergone an ‘exorcism’ similar to that inflicted on Matt Drapper, with very similar results.
That’s a really hard story to believe. It sounds like a form of child abuse.
Indeed, common sense ties with what top tier professionals advise on gay conversion or ‘exorcism’, and how risk seriously outweighs any potential perceived benefits (even if someone really wanted to go through the rite after consenting to it).
It’s possible to accept Lambeth 1:10, or to outrightly reject it, but should all parties (with an ounce of wit) be very wary of ‘gay conversion’? Odd how the ‘abuse detector weather cock cockerel on York Minster’, Primate Stephen Cottrell, can cluck his mouth off about Russia-Ukraine or Gaza-Israel, yet fails to-mind his own business-when something like the St Thomas-Philadelphia Sheffield ‘exorcism’ hits the headlines or courts.
Why did the two biggest denominations stop teaching the public to pray, just when the Macmillan and Wilson regimes’ trainee teachers were staging pretend “surveys” among school children? Because it’s not evangelical enough or contemporary enough?
You just struck a nerve there. I believe there is a number of reasons why prayer and national days of prayer are not even mentioned. One is the notable and obvious secularism in UK society. I think the other is actually more sinister, and it’s here that I more and compare our church and other leaders with the biblical Pharisees, and that is praying about the disintegration of moral society, the breakdown of accepted norms and values and the obvious rise of political, social and economic deadlock and the enormous wealth divides between the wealthy elites and the rest of us draws attention to these things. Shouldn’t all churches that can have and settle on a National Day of Prayer each year or each month to pray about the spiritual, moral and other more tangible declines and general corruption throughout society? But no, not a bit of any of it, too busy pandering to the wealthy and covering up scandals. The abandonment of God by the world is to be expected, but when it’s the church that’s supposed to represent Him and His values that is something else.
36:00 to 43:00 mins section of Radio 4 ‘Sunday’ on 29 June 2025 (‘Church of England Stalking Case; Global Religion Study; Faith at Glastonbury’) is 5 mins of excellent coverage on Jay Hulme and Venessa Pinto. The individual elements of the Jay Hulme story are foul at multiple levels. KCJ, DARVO and silence or delay, that’s the Anglican way. This story is worthy of a great deal more interest. It exemplifies why Anglicanism is driving away convinced Christians- and turning into a cult. Coupled with Matt Drapper’s ill-treatment, we see a cult where various forms of abuse are tolerated, and carefully brushed over when they get exposed. Odd how prophetic self-publicists in charismatic-evangelical groups had no ‘word of knowledge’ (or warning) about Venessa Pinto.
Or, for that matter a good many other problem personalities within their own movement. (Make your own list.)
One problem is the old one of knowledge without wisdom. I’ve heard so many of the ideas mentioned above, about ancient family links with Freemasons, witchcraft etc in the past which are so far removed from the person being ‘ministered’ to that they are impossible to disprove. And unfortunately the victim is already in a vulnerable position where it is very difficult to challenge the authority of the person conducting the ‘ministry’. I know – I’ve had some in the past.
Given that the ‘ministry’ is usually coming from a semi-fundamentalist background, and the dogma has been learned by rote, by people who are not necessarily trained in the necessary psychological skills, trouble is inevitable. And, equally unhappily, there is a ready market for ‘do it yourself’ counseling course books, which themselves are often of limited or one sided understanding, to feed these disasters. I could go on, but doubt the guilty parties are likely to be listening!
I find Matt Draper’s case interesting to the point that I bought his book.
He was born into am exclusive brethren type family – and his complaints about this type of religion, apart from it being anti gay, are authoritarian church and family, joyless eccentricity in early life – and corporal punishment of children.
The impression I got from the book was that Matthew would have been happy to be involved in a church which demanded daily activities, prayer and worship meetings – provided it was affirming of gay identity and practice.
There used to be such a church – the Metropolitan Community Church, although 99% of the members are or were gay (men and women).
I think Matthew’s problem was that he continued to yearn for acceptance by the wrong type of church community after he had realised he was gay. He wanted that religious intensity – simply impossible for a gay man or woman in an evangelical Fundamentalist church – except on the down-low.
In any case the exorcists as Matthew describes them in his book sound batty and out of control. I can’t see how an Anglican-affiliated church could have given these people free reign.
‘I can’t see how an Anglican-affiliated church could have given these people free reign’ is how the last comment ends. WELL!
WELL! Anglicanism allows all sorts of people free rein. David McClay is a Bishop in the Church of Ireland’s Down and Dromore Diocese. The Diocese allegedly covered up a serial 1970’s child abuser priest called W G Neely.
The deception lasted for almost 50 years until a terminally ill victim (now deceased) won a settlement. KRWLAW posted this online statement: ‘Neely abuse: Church of Ireland Bishop ‘apologises’ for unnamed rector – ignores Belfast-Tipperary transfer’.
The late Eddie Gorman gets 10/10 from me. Bishop David McClay gets 0/10. Did the Diocese effectively fix up an NDA to protect their own cover?
Bishop McClay and his team appointed an interesting ex-prisoner to a ministry position at St Brendan’s Church in Belfast. On 30 Jan 2022 Olive Tree Media posted this 12 mins YouTube film: ‘Karl Faase interviews Joe Turner for Jesus the Game Changer Season 2’. Multiple local Church members in Belfast have approached me.
They clearly believe Bishop McClay is covering up a sinister scandal at this parish. Did Joe Turner acutely vanish from parish website or social media pages in mysterious circumstances, long before Olive Tree Media posted the online film?
The Anglican Church continues to give leaders like-‘Bishop David’-free rein. The result can be chaos. I witnessed how Bishop McClay declined to fix any formal inquiry into the savage bullying of four innocent Church members (2 men and 2 women).
Two ministry trainees, on a 2015-2016 New Wine programme, faced unfair allegations of sexual misconduct delivered with sadistic savagery. The trail of witness evidence was plain. But Bishop McClay preferred to cover it all up. Why did he shamelessly allow people to be horrifically bullied?
Better to pick ex-prisoners for ministry programmes, David, rather than faithful Church members. Stuff recruitment based on vocational skills, experience, qualifications and academic credentials, is not required when a prophetic wizard is in charge!
I was specifically meaning exorcists there – or “Prayer Warriors”as St Thomas Philadelphia termed them (page 92 of Matthew Draper’s book). He says as he was assigned to Horace and Celeste “I felt mine was a super serious case”.
Nevertheless Horace and Celeste seemed pretty formulaic – and physical.
“Horace had hands the size of dinner plates and would lay them on you in prayer – pushing down until you collapsed into the presence of God”
Celeste would look into your eyes and you could be sure she knew everything about you. Celest said he was “carrying the spirit of Victim” which was a hereditary demon (remember Matthew’s father was actually a brethren dispensational minister!).
There are 8 pages describing what Matthew felt during the exorcism.
My issue here is this – in a proper denominational church there are rules for this sort of thing. In fact the Catholics have a course (in Rome) on exorcism.
The Anglicans I thought did allow exorcisms by permission of the bishop.
But I doubt either would do exorcisms for homosexuality. Or would they?
Anglicanism robustly bans gay conversion therapy.
But when it happens in Sheffield, does the local Bishop (or Archbishop) act with clarity and transparency?
Well no actually, the hierarchy stick their heads somewhere else in their bishoprics or archbishoprics, and are nowhere to be seen or heard…..
Moral bravery and competent leadership? No!
Now add to this not only different definitions of “gay”, “chastity”, “celibate”, “spirit”, “disclosure” and so forth, but different conceptions as to the relevance and application of such definitions.
Let alone why Scripture is meant to be read and heard, AND the subject of your inference, in place of what authority (of all kinds) says (intending you not to do so) ABOUT it.
“Prayer(s)” of any kind a 100% obliterated concept within christianity.
“Conservative” and “non-conservative” theology alike, are altogether mannerism-based.
How to “take” a “Church that takes Itself seriously”, also a matter not to let them decide for you.
Some of the so called “inclusive” churches are missing most of the point(s) as well, by differing varieties of superficiality.