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Paul Pennyfeather was reading for the Church at Scone College Oxford. The hapless Pennyfeather was relieved of his clothes by a group of drunks who didn\u2019t like the look of Pennyfeather\u2019s old school tie. In the words of the Master of Scone:<\/p>\n
“\u2018The case of Pennyfeather,\u2019 the Master was saying, \u2018seems to be quite a different matter altogether. He ran the whole length of the quadrangle, you say, without his trousers. That is indecency. It is not the conduct we expect of a scholar.\u2019”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
For poor Pennyfeather it was downhill from then on. He ended up a teacher at a Llanabba Castle school in North Wales, a fourth-rate school according to the grading: Leading School, First-rate School, Good School, and School.<\/em><\/p>\n
To find out what happens next, you will have to read Evelyn Waugh\u2019s Decline and Fall.<\/em><\/p>\n
The point is, it didn\u2019t matter whether the removal of Pennyfeather\u2019s trousers was voluntary or not; he was seen to be running trouserless; for appearances\u2019 sake, something<\/em> had to be done.<\/p>\n
We will probably never know for sure whether Steve Wood was caught metaphorically sans-trousers, but the disastrous mess that ACNA has brought upon itself by thoroughly botching the plausible complaints against its most senior cleric means that, for the sake of appearances<\/em>, it was almost inevitable that Wood was brought to trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Similarly, because appearances <\/em>suggest that ACNA has been spending considerable energy in protecting the institution, I suspect that there will be pressure to find Wood guilty \u2013 to convince everyone that it\u2019s doing no such thing.<\/p>\n
The recent Report from the College of Bishops<\/a> attempts to quiet the troops with vague promises to do better. I\u2019m not sure that it reaches beyond the stage of advanced lip service.<\/p>\n
I attended the first Provincial “Office Hours” with Bishop Dobbs and Provincial Leaders<\/em><\/a> Zoom meeting. I was hoping for an interactive session with open discussion. Instead it was a format where questions were submitted in writing and the panel answered them \u2013 or didn’t.<\/p>\n
My questions were:<\/p>\n
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Why did it take so long to take the allegations against Steve Wood seriously \u2013 a year or more, I gather?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n
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It leaves one with the suspicion that it may never have been addressed had not the Washington Post article appeared. Comments?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The answer I received to part one was: that\u2019s how long the process took. There was no comment on part two. This, it seems, is how you rebuild trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul Pennyfeather was reading for the Church at Scone College Oxford. The hapless Pennyfeather was relieved of his clothes by a group of drunks who didn\u2019t like the look of Pennyfeather\u2019s old school tie. In the words of the Master … Continue reading