Chaplain at £27,000 a year public school quits over affair
A CHAPLAIN at a public school has resigned in disgrace after he was caught having an affair.
Reverend Rupert Jarvis dispensed pastoral care at £ 27,000- a- year Denstone College but had been cheating on his wife of 24 years, Eliza.
The full-time chaplain, 48, resigned a month after a complaint was made over his conduct. He has now been suspended from clergy duties by his Staffordshire diocese over the ‘inappropriate conduct’.
A source claimed the affair had been going on for a number of years.
In an email sent to parents, Denstone headmaster David Derbyshire said Rev Jarvis was ‘profoundly remorseful’ for his actions and was ‘sticking together’ with his 47-year-old wife.
It read: ‘He made an error of judgment by embarking upon an extramarital affair. It was for the Bishop of Lichfield to decide upon the action to be taken as a result of the adultery, which broke the rules of the Church.
‘As a result of this breach, Rupert Jarvis resigned and was later suspended from the clergy for three years. Rev Jarvis is not proud of his actions and is profoundly remorseful. The family is sticking together.’
The Diocese of Lichfield said last week that Rev Jarvis had been handed a three-year prohibition order for ‘ conduct unbecoming and inappropriate to the work of a clergy person’ but said only that it involved a ‘personal matter unrelated to the college’.
Mr Derbyshire yesterday said the phrase ‘inappropriate behaviour’ could have led to ‘ people making assumptions about what Rupert had done’ and the email was sent with the reverend’s permission to ‘clarify his position’.
The headmaster said Rev Jarvis was a ‘very well regarded’ member of staff and the woman he had been involved with was not connected to the school ‘in any way’.
Rev Jarvis, who has consented to the prohibition order, resigned from his post at the school in July – a month after the Bishop of Lichfield received a formal complaint about his behaviour. His suspension came into force in October.
Fees at the college cost up to £8,900 a term for boarders and £7,000 for day pupils. According to its website, the chaplain offers support for ‘the whole community: pupils, families and staff’. Rev Jarvis lives with his wife in a barn conversion outside Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
She is thought to be a prepschool teacher and the couple have two teenage sons, one of whom attends Denstone.
The reverend was formerly an army chaplain and is believed to have joined Denstone, which is rated ‘excellent’ by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, around five years ago.
A parent with a child at the school said the chaplain had been regarded as a ‘lovely man’. She added: ‘Everyone has always told me how Rev Jarvis would do everything he could and gave years of service to the school. This is really a personal matter for him. I’m very happy with the school and the education my child is getting.’
A Diocese of Lichfield spokesman confirmed that the complaint concerned a personal matter unrelated to the college.
Rev Jarvis were unavailable for comment last night.