I resigned from the electoral register of the Church of England this morning.
It's hardly a big deal for them.
But it was the only way I could find to register a personal protest at the failure of St Paul's.
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Are you ever going to resign from the ICAEW?
Why should I do that?
I remain a practicing chartered accountant
All right – I don’t do nearly so much practice these days – but have worked for three clients in the last week
Why would I resign?
Ah yes the ICAEW the duplicitous “institute” and the smokescreen for the Big Four.
Rather join the Mafia … better people.
What was that? They are the Mafia!
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member” Groucho Marx
Please don’t do that !
If there is one thing we need these days it is straight accountants.
We could certainly make do without tax advisors, tax accountants & tax solicitors, & if they were all out the way we could (hurrah) do without tax inspectors, but any business (bigger than a window-cleaner) will always need a straight accountant to tell you
who you owe, who owes you, what your cash flow is, whether you’re actually making money or just seeming to pick up a lot of orders,
Unfortunately, the accountants/auditors for our big city banks seemed to lose sight of those rather basic requirements.
Your personal protest also squanders eligibility to attend Annual Parochial Church Meetings.
Reform (is this the correct expression Henry?) of the church can best be made from within so perhaps you should reconsider your resignation?
Undoubtedly you will not resign from your love of God.
No formal answer is expected.
I have little time for such meetings anyway – as a practical matter
And have been worshipping much more regularly as a Quaker – with whom I have long term links – of late anyway
Actually Robin (and Richard), this is not strictly true. It is a little known fact that EVERY resident of a Parish has a right to be present at the first part of the Annual Meeting, which is in two parts: first, and Annual Vestry Meeting, followed, secondly, by the Annual Parish Church Meeting.
Now, it’s true that Richard cannot vote at, nor speak at (unless given permission by the Chair) at the APCM, but he CAN be present at, and speak at, the Annual Vestry Meeting, the purpose of which is to elect the Church Wardens. The reason why every resident may attend this meeting is that, of course, in past times the Parish had the responsibility for making decisions on, and distributing, Parish funds under the old Poor Law, and as residents might be taxed on this, being allowed to be present at the Annual Vestry Meeting allowed them some say.
Of course, the old duties of the Vestry have passed to the Parish Councils (hence their name!!), but I can see NO reason why people should not attend this Vestry Meeting, having found out where and when it is to be held, and then, having notified the Chair (usually the local Vicar, but it oculd be the Rural Dean) of an intention to attend, and to ask a question. That question could be, of course, to ask the candidates for Church Warden whether or not they supported the line taken by St Paul’s Cathedral, or than taken by Canon Giles Fraser in the matter of Occupy the London Stock Exchange.
You could, of course, just take a chance of being allowed to question the Church Warden candidates, and turn up on the day – I leave that to each person’s assessment of what they think would work best. But the law certainly allows EVERY resident to attend (Test – are you paying the Parish Precept in your Council Tax). And once there, as an interested party, I do not see how the Chair could refuse you the right to speak.
Thank you for clarifying the constitutional rights of the local congregation …
Although a regular worshipper my commitment to church “management” only extends to helping to tidy the church environs — and serving tea and cakes on the monthly Sunday rota.
Had I progressed further up the Church hierarchy and attended ecumenical college and learnt th theological skills necessary to act as a parish clergyman, this vocation may have suited my limited interpersonal abilities. A calling that is rewarding and (although requiring absolute devotion) sometimes fun.
Alas it was not to be.
there’s another resignation in the news now. . .
Well done. I too am disgusted at the way in which the Church of England appears to have allowed itself to become a puppet of City of London investment banks. Shabby.
Good for you Richard. I don’t understand why St.Paul’s do not stand for Christian values. The Christians amongst the businessmen that run the Cathedral should assert themselves or they should resign to show their dissatisfaction. The ridiculous situation at St. Paul’s is just another nail in the coffin for Christianity. Keep up the good work.
Peter
Richard, very well done. I find it extremely sad that people of faith are finding themselves with no option but to withdraw from their ‘religion’ due to the Church having strayed sooo far from the original teachings. This said, I am intensely proud of the people that are doing so as, although I’m not a Christian (due to what I believe to be mans tampering with the good book!), I have read the Bible and wholeheartedly believe that Jesus would be doing precisely as you & Giles have… I applaud you…
Pinsie
I feel sorry for St Paul’s. The protest is only there because the protesters couldn’t get into the stock exchange – St Paul’s are innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Now, somehow, they’re the bad guys for not wanting to be involved.
The protesters could easily have pitched up outside, say, the RBS building in Bishopsgate and probably still be there now.
This is disingenuous
By being captured by the City and by being the Establishment church Sty Paul’s is part of the problem
Which is hy Giles Fraser has no doubt gone
You surely aren’t saying that St Paul’s are, and always were, the main target of the protest ‘Occupy London Stock Exchange’? It’s a pure coincidence that St Paul’s happens to be next door to the LSE, where the protesters originally wanted to be.
It ends up looking daft for the protesters, and unless they themselves are religious, the use of ‘What Would Jesus Do’ banners is gross cynicism.
St Paul’s haven’t handled things well though. If they had simply said once, happy for the protesters to be here and then ignored them, the protesters would probably have already packed up and gone.
I know full well St Paul’s was not the target and it is not now
But as a symbol of the establishment (their choice) they have managed to show how out of touch they are
And anyone who thinks the protestors are the people who have made fools of themselves has to be similarly deluded
Chris
“You surely aren’t saying that St Paul’s are, and always were, the main target of the protest ‘Occupy London Stock Exchange’? It’s a pure coincidence that St Paul’s happens to be next door to the LSE, where the protesters originally wanted to be.”
Yes, but it isn’t a coincidence that the committee of St Pauls includes an unhealthy preponderance of City types. Perhaps a better word would be serendipity.”
“It ends up looking daft for the protesters, and unless they themselves are religious, the use of ‘What Would Jesus Do’ banners is gross cynicism.”
disagree. A while back I had a row on a bus with 2 lads who were v.drunk & bullying. I pointed out to them that their behaviour was ‘Haraam’ & was mostly upsetting their own sisters in Islam. They didn’t like that. Was I being hypocritical since I’m not teetotal myself ?
The point is that if you claim religiousity you must be held up to the standards of that religion by anyone, whether they live up to those precepts or not. The gospels are there for all to read & they are pretty clear on Jesus’ views on gelt &, more importantly, the exploitation of those without gelt by those with it.
“St Paul’s haven’t handled things well though. If they had simply said once, happy for the protesters to be here and then ignored them, the protesters would probably have already packed up and gone.”
you really don’t see this, do you ?
This is not an acceptable view of the claims of Christ. Christianity is, in a particular sense, totalitarian. What neither an individual christian nor a body of christians can do is say “this area, this problem, this activity is difficult to reconcile with the faith, therefore I will just put it into a seperate compartment”. One reason why I have had difficulties in maintaining a christian faith. But, no, St Pauls may or may not be “bad guys” for not wanting to be involved, but they can’t be christians and not be involved.
Tu are not the first Richard in England to have problems with the Church, and not that last I suppose!
Pity really, the C of E could do with more like you. Even more so if you accept my thesis that the security lot are at the bottom of this, see my O Ye Of Little Faith earlier this week.
I think Giles Fraser had a lot more to lose with his resignation than yours RM.
Should you not have resigned in private-the Gospels say one’s Good Works (turning it on its head) should be done in secret and not announced to the World.
Of course he has
But I recorded mine for the sake of transparency
I have said I am an Anglican in the past
Now I’m not
That’s called declaring interests
Always figured you weren’t really a Christian. You don’t behave like one and never had me fooled.
Pretty good coming from someone hiding behind a false pseudonym
Alex, my dearest friend is a particularly staunch Christian and she has ‘resigned’ from attending her local church due to what she describes as “their non-Christian response”. This does not mean that she’s no longer a Christian, she has simply chosen to continue her worship outside of the church walls and with those of like-mind.
I take it, by your judgemental response, that you’re not a Christian either ?
I suspect Alex is from tha school that thinks being a Christina is about dressing up on Sunday morning and ignoring the issue for the rest of the week unless the vicar asks you to sit On a committee, which you do because it gives you social status
Real Christianity is a 168 hour a week busisness and makes you just a little bit (or even quote a lot) awkward when it comes t dealing with many things in life as they aren’t run the way your faith demands, which is why many seek t change the world in a way that makes the Sunday morn g brigade thoroughly uncomfortable
Remember Jesus was a thoroughly unreasonable man – a fact Alex would rather ignore