A lot of heat seems to be being generated at the moment of 'Toxic'-gate; a Union gets involved and a Vicar's wife gives her side of a different situation.
Sure, bullying exists in the Church - because it is part of the personal interaction of people as people, and there are a lot of people with agendas (this in their view supersede a person) or with the expectation that they wield power (normally because they don't have much power of their own and Church is an easy place to be a big cheese) - oh, the permutations are infinite.
The big question (and probably the reason you're reading) is - have I ever been bullied? (Go on, name and shame and pull out an anecdote that gets everybody sympathising).
I think it quite possible that there are some folk around who feel that I have bullied them. I have never done this intentionally (I would hate to think that I actually have done this - honest) but one persons urgent needs can feel to another as a thing being pushed upon them against their will. If so - I am sorry.
One form of bullying being referred to is that of the Diocesan hierarchy 'bullying' a Clergyperson. I'm sure it happens when there is a burning issue to be resolved which is then added to the Priests already full workload. At the Diocesan level there tends to be a split between the Pastoral Episcopate and the Archdeacon (described often as the Bishop's business manager), whereas at the local level there's only me. Some local issues can be deeply rooted and tremendously difficult to disentangle, and the spleen will be vented most forcefully at the local face of the Church hierarchy - the Vicarage door (or the Church door). I have experienced requesting a conversation with the hierarchy and booking an appointment, only to find that after a few minutes the discussion had changed into a wider one about the local area. That wider issue was important, but my personal distress which caused me to request the meeting was not adequately recognised - had the local issue been different then I could imagine coming away from that meeting feeling taken for granted and, dare I say it, bullied.
Another reported type of bullying is that of the locals ganging up on the Vicar for some reason. Again I have been very fortunate and have few horror stories to relate. However there is a pressure - to do all the good things one predecessor did PLUS do all the things they didn't do much better. Thus the expectation of keeping everything on the road that has always been on the road, plus a multitude of new things can grind even a cheerful chap down. Very few people in Churches are willing to take a lead in making sacrifices by giving up their thing, and some changes can be resisted pretty vehemently.
We live in an uncomfortable age when change is being thrust upon each and every Clergyperson, Parish and Parishioner, and the resistance to change can be strongly felt. Inevitably people on all sides will feel hurt, misunderstood and let down - but the God's call is upon all of us to be His People for this next generation. The problem in my view is the number of Clergy who have avoided these issues for too long and created a false and unsustainable sense of comfort and security for little St. Whotnots on the Marsh with its beautiful 14th Century tower etc. etc.
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