Married Kirk minister who admitted f ling is suspended
A MARRIED Church of Scotland minister has been suspended after admitting ‘inappropriately intimate’ sexual relations.
The Rev Professor Ian Campbell Bradley has been stripped of his ministerial status for a year following a Kirk investigation.
Married with two children, Professor Bradley was an associate minister of Holy Trinity Church in St Andrews and was previously Emeritus Professor of Spiritual and Cultural History at St Andrews University, where he was also a university chaplain.
However, after allegations were made to the Presbytery of St
‘Felt amazing and young again’
Andrews, an investigation was carried out. The 68-year-old admitted to a special committee hearing that he engaged in ‘inappropriately intimate sexual relations’ with a woman who was not his wife, against church rules.
It was alleged this took place on September 10, 2016, and during a stay in a cottage in Argyll between October 22 and 25, 2016.
The allegations were reportedly made by a musician who said she first met him and his wife at a church service in 2015.
Professor Bradley denied one allegation of bullying the woman and using language which upset and demeaned her, causing her alarm and distress.
He told the hearing he ‘felt, and continues to feel, remorse for his past conduct’.
The complainant, 61, told the Courier newspaper: ‘I just felt amazing and felt young again. It was very intense, his messages were very romantic. We were connected in every way.’
She said after the relationship broke down, she met him in a restaurant in St Andrews, but claimed he shouted at her.
She felt, as a minister, he ought to show compassion so complained to the Presbytery.
Professor Bradley has published works on a wide range of topics, and contributed to national newspapers and TV programmes.
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: ‘An allegation of conduct that could constitute a disciplinary offence was considered by a court of the Church of Scotland on August 25.
‘The individual at the centre of the complaint admitted inappropriate conduct. He was suspended from the status and functions of a ministry for one year.’
A spokesman for St Andrews University said: ‘Ian retired from the university last year after a long and distinguished academic career, and is currently on voluntary leave of absence from his position as an honorary chaplain.’