‘Church is biased against northern accents’
NORTHERNERS are shut out of the clergy because of their accents, a Church of England bishop has claimed.
The Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Revd Philip North, said that selection for the priesthood favoured well-spoken middle-class candidates over working-class applicants. He said officials working in dioceses in the north of England thought that candidates with “broad northern accents” were particularly poorly received by selection advisers. “They think often there is a sense of discrimination against them,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I couldn’t say whether or not that’s true but I’ve felt it myself at times, and it is a widespread perception amongst the northern directors of ordinands. The way in which we choose clergy in the Church of England is the same as the way the Army was choosing officers in the Seventies, that’s what it’s based on.
“So it’s by and for public schoolboys. It rewards eloquence, it rewards confidence, it’s residential, which some people find very intimidating. There’s no doubt at all that it’s unconsciously biased against a certain demographic.”
He said he has backed “broad Lancastrians, expecting them to sail through, and either they’ve just scraped by, or they’ve not been recommended. We’ve got pretty much a white, middle-class priestly caste. There’s much more to that than the selection processes, but the selection processes aren’t challenging that – it really favours your bright, white graduate who knows how to handle themselves socially and knows how to handle an interview.”
Canon Nick Smeetong, the diocesan director of ordinands for the diocese of Manchester, echoed his view.
“Candidates describe feeling out of place, and being ‘the only northerner’ at BAP [Bishops’ Advisory Panel],” he told the Church Times. “There is too often a sense that advisers don’t ‘get’ them.”
Bishop North added that candidates who had held “leadership jobs and professional roles” were also advantaged.
“It does make us nervous sending people from the estates and workingclass backgrounds, and that delivers a narrow priesthood, and that’s a big problem.”
Catherine Nancekievill, the Church of England’s head of vocation, said: “We want to see more candidates coming forward for ordination from working class backgrounds.”
The Ven Julian Hubbard, director of the ministry division, said: “Changes in the style, culture, and format of the Bishops’ Advisory Panel are being considered to ensure that all kinds of candidates, including those from estates, feel able to participate and are confident of a fair hearing.”