An unholy affair
A vicar has been betrayed after learning that the destitute man he allowed to move into his home slept with his wife of 29 years
FROM whichever direction you approach Rushden, Northamptonshire, its pretty streets stretch out beneath you in the valley, with the spire of St Mary’s church above its rooftops. And at the parish church, which dates back in part to the 14th century, it’s business as usual. This evening it’s choir practice, tomorrow there is Holy Communion at 10.30am and on Friday the bell ringers will meet beneath the 172ft spire to practise for the Sunday service.
But in the home of associate minister Rev Matthew Taylor, 53, and his wife Sandra, 49, things are far from normal. The vicar is recovering from an act of kindness that has backfired horribly and called into question his decision to become a good Samaritan to a homeless alcoholic stranger, who has repaid his generous deed in the most selfish way: by having an affair with his wife of 29 years and mother of his two grown-up daughters.
The bells at this “vibrant family church” have rung out over the town of 30,000 souls for more than 200 years proclaiming the Christian message. And you would think there could be little more Christian than the vicar choosing to open his home to a man in need.
But the caring Church of England minister must be ruing the day he lived his philosophy through deeds not words.
Last year Ivan Mascarenhas, a tattooed 49-year-old former road signs erector and amateur photographer, met Sandra Taylor at the Recovery House in Rushden – a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit for men – where the vicar’s wife was project manager.
The six-bed facility opened in February 2015 and is run by 18 part-time volunteers as part of the East Northants Faith Group. “So far we have had a very positive start,” said Sandra last February. “Our residents have been great and really value their place there. They are all really focused on their recovery.”
THE hope was that after the six-month programme, which includes sessions in art, music and relaxation techniques, the residents – who are responsible for the upkeep of the house and are expected to take part in church activities – would find a way back into the workplace.
“Whatever support they need we will work with them,” she added. Her husband was fully behind the project, gave it his blessing on Twitter and heaped praise on Ivan and the other residents from the pulpit for confronting their demons and committing to a fresh start.
There were clear rules against relationships between addicts and workers but Sandra is said to have started “enjoying cosy chats with her bedraggled admirer”, although the timing of these is unclear. What is clear is that after completing the programme Ivan returned home to his wife Claire, 41, in October last year and immediately posted a Facebook tribute to the mother of his children Luke and Lana, which read: “For you Claire. Thank you for holding us together.” But soon he was drinking again and in May this year Claire asked him to leave.
It was then that Mascarenhas begged Sandra for her help. She discussed the situation with her husband and in an act of extraordinary openness and trust the couple decided to offer Ivan a room in their four-bedroom house while he found his feet for a second time.
It was then that the unlikely friends grew even closer, enjoying long walks together until Sandra and her husband were able to find him a place in another rehab house a mile away this summer. Sandra found it hard to say goodbye. According to Mascarenhas, she began sending him phone messages when her husband was out. And one thing led to another. “It was like a fantasy and we couldn’t control ourselves,” Mascarenhas admitted. “It felt forbidden but wonderful at the same time. We knew it was wrong and shouldn’t happen. It began with long walks in the fields and then we started going back to her house.
“When we first kissed it felt wonderful but we tried to stop it going any further. It was a gradual thing but when we first slept together I felt more happy than at any time since I was a teenager. We were like magnets.”
He explained how he would sit by his phone waiting for her call like a love-struck teenager. But the guilt was building and while on holiday a few weeks ago Sandra confessed everything to her husband and resigned from her position at Recovery House.
She met up once more with Mascarenhas before returning to her husband for good. “From what she told me, her husband has shown her understanding and forgiveness,” he says. “She has gone back to her old life and I’m homeless again.”
On Sunday Rev Taylor spoke with great dignity of his ordeal. “During a time of great and intense emotional loss and stress my wife Sandra was drawn into an inappropriate relationship. It was a short relationship which is now ended and for which Sandra feels great shame and sadness.”
A spokesman for the diocese said the couple are committed to rebuilding their marriage.
And what of the hapless Mascarenhas, who describes himself as an “artist, photographer, daydreamer”? On Tuesday he said: “When God gives you a new beginning, don’t repeat the same mistakes. Amen.” It is an epithet the vicar’s wife should also take to heart.