Vicar is banned for life after love affair with a parishioner
A VICAR and father of three given an honorary title on his retirement from the church has been banned from practising as a priest after admitting having an affair with a parishioner.
Rev Martin Baldock, 68, retired three years ago but a misconduct complaint was later made against him that led to disciplinary proceedings.
It has now emerged that Mr Baldock, who has been married for 46 years, had a longrunning love affair. The woman involved has not been identified.
Mr Baldock was a former pharmacist who changed careers and was ordained in 1985. He moved to York after working in a Nottinghamshire mining village.
He admitted two counts of misconduct while in his post in York and has been banned for life by the Church of England from working as a priest. His honorary Canon of York title was also withdrawn.
Mr Baldock was vicar of St Edward the Confessor church in Dringhouses, York, between 2000 and 2017. He also served as chaplain of York College and St Leonard’s Hospice as well as rural dean of York.
The local diocese announced Mr Baldock was ‘conducting a close and inappropriate relationship with a person not his spouse over a sustained period’. He also admitted ‘failing to protect a vulnerable adult’. The Bishop of Selby, the Rt Rev Dr John Thomson, whose responsibilities include care of the parishes in York, said: ‘This is deeply upsetting news for the parish of Dringhouses, where Mr Baldock was held in respect and affection for 17 years, and where many members of the church and community trusted him with their deepest and sometimes their most sensitive feelings and experiences.’
One parishioner said: ‘ Martin was a lovely man. No one
‘Inappropriate relationship’
had any inkling at all that he had been investigated by the church, it’s the last thing anyone would have imagined.’
A spokesman said the diocese was not aware of any other issues concerning Mr Baldock but said anyone with safeguarding concerns should ‘contact the police, the relevant archdeacon or the Diocesan Safeguarding Team as soon as possible’.
Mr Baldock, who moved to Newark, Nottinghamshire, on his retirement, was praised for his work in the community when he left York three years ago. He was not available for comment.