June 7, 2024 2:00pm by David Farrar

Bigotry against Anglicans

A charitable law organisation that assisted survivors of abuse in faith-based institutions is standing by its decision to hire a former Anglican dean as its head despite an array of concerns from staff, saying “perception has clouded reality”.

Community Law Canterbury (CLC) hired Lawrence Kimberley in October. Kimberley was previously the Anglican dean since 2015, telling The Press he stood down as he was looking for a new job before retirement to buy a house.

Following the appointment, a letter was sent to CLC’s board outlining concerns including how survivors of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in faith-based institutions, which the organisation assisted, would feel about the appointment. …

It stated 29 staff members had expressed concerns about Kimberley’s appointment that they wanted communicated to outgoing chief executive Paul O’Neill and the board, including the process used to select him.

So 29 snowflakes signed a letter protesting the new CE, because he used to be a Bishop in the Anglican Church.

Most staff held “no personal ill will” towards Kimberley, and were “conscious” they had not met him. However, they believed the board had not considered that there were 11 members on staff who openly identified as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“The fraught and complex relationship between religious organisations generally and LGBTQIA+ communities is well documented,” the letter said.

If a senior Muslim cleric has been appointed, I wonder if the 29 staff would have written a letter opposing the appointment on the basis of how many rainbow staff they had?

Kimberley told Stuff that since he was appointed, 10 employees had left for various reasons. CLC had also appointed seven people and one contractor to various roles. Two interns were about to move into solicitor roles.

“Some of the staff who left did so before I started so I didn’t even get the chance to meet them.” …

I believe it’s so important to treat every human being with reverence and respect.” …

He believed anyone at CLC should feel safe, adding it was his job to ensure that.

“My role in working for the Anglican Church’s response to the Royal Commission into the Abuse in Care was to help revise the approach to policies and procedures on the various boards on which I served. I worked really hard in a policy sense to make sure that it was survivor focused.”

There is no suggestion in any way that Kimberly has ever acted inappropriately. It is purely because he was in the Anglican Church. It is religious bigotry.