My conscience made me quit 'great' job but I had to do it

The Rector of Liverpool will be returning to the church pews after 10 years of service.

The Revd Canon Dr Crispin Pailing announced he was quitting his position at the Liverpool Parish Church back in March with a stinging criticism of the established church.

The 49-year-old, who held the position at one of the city’s oldest churches for a decade, cited “institutional validation of homophobic and misogynistic views” as his reason for resignation.

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The dad-of-two, who lives in Aigburth, said he said he could no longer work "in an organisation which perpetuates bias and discrimination against sections of society".

Today, Sunday, June 23, marks Dr Pailing's final service before he embarks on a new career in the charity sector.

He told the ECHO: “It’s a complete cultural change. I have discovered that everyone else in the world has two days off for a weekend so I look forward to enjoying them.

“The bad thing is the church has been my life. I haven’t lost my faith but I have lost my wish to represent an organisation that isn’t moving forward in the way I believe it should. There is a disconnect in values.

“I have enjoyed my time here, it has been great. Being involved in so many communities is wonderful and being at the centre of so many city events, I have loved it all. After 10 years, I will be sad to move on but I know the church with get another rector who can take it forward for the next 10 years.

“I will be returning to the pews somewhere - I am unsure where as of yet, but I will be sitting in the congregation. I remain a priest - once a priest, always a priest. At one point, in the future, I might return to active Christian ministry and leadership in that role. But for one thing I am going to enjoy now is living in Liverpool, a place my family and I have grown to love.”

The Londoner, who is an ally of the queer community, previously told the ECHO how he felt his personal beliefs were at odds with those of the church.

Dr Pailing said it was the “failure to address” safeguarding issues across the church that he wanted to highlight in his resignation statement. He claimed it was “an abuse and a further assault on the image of God”.

He said: “In my 20 years of ordained life, one thing that changed is two particular acts of parliament and they are really significant. The 2010 Equality Act and the 2013 Same-Sex Couples Act suddenly put a national church at odds with national legislation.

“This was a big change as the Church of England is exempt from both of these. What I find difficult to see is how can we be a church for everyone, an established national church, if we are not there for everyone because of exemptions. The church is meant to be there for everyone of all faiths and none.

“Those exemptions mean if you are straight you can get married in a parish church anywhere in the country - no matter what your faith background. You have a legal right to marry. But not if you’re gay. So immediately you have a barrier, which I term as homophobia, which is a structural barrier.

“Similarly, even though women have been ordained for 30 years, there are jobs you cannot apply for if you are a woman. For this to happen, you have to have an exemption from the Equalities Act.”

The Canon said Liverpool Parish church, however, prides itself on being welcoming and inclusive to all - even, on occasions, going further than what church law suggests.

During his time as a rector, the dad was proud to support Pride in Liverpool yearly, fly the Pride progress flag, host the Liverpool Loves You event and rally against controversial American evangelist Franklin Graham when he visited the city.

He said: “It is not that all churches are homophobic and misogynistic but that the Church rests on a structure of homophobia and misogyny. Within this, some people perpetrate these structures and these aren’t being addressed and certainly not in sufficient time.

“We all have to accept that society, institutions and the church all move at different paces. But when it has been 30 years for women and over 10 years for same-sex couples, with people who are LGBTQ+ in the pews and not being able to get married in their church, that is when it needs to be called out and that’s what I did.”

A spokesperson from the Diocese of Liverpool told the ECHO it recognises that within the CofE "opinions differ on same-sex marriage", stating these issues are "matters of conscience".

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