Woke values ‘turn of f worshippers’
Black trainee vicar who says Church blocked him blasts ‘sneering’ leaders
A BLACK trainee vicar who claims the Church of England blocked him from becoming a priest for challenging its ‘woke’ values said such views are turning parishioners away.
Calvin Robinson says church leaders are too busy focusing on issues such as climate change or criticising government policies.
And he accused bishops of ‘sneering down their noses’ at Christians who are at odds with their agenda.
Mr Robinson, a TV presenter and political commentator, claims plans for him to be ordained were abandoned over his criticism of the Church’s views on racism.
It came after he questioned comments by senior clergy that Britain and the CofE was ‘institutionally racist’ – saying he did not believe that to be the case.
The former teacher, who has trained for two years, yesterday revealed he has left the Church of England and hopes to be ordained in a ‘more orthodox’ international Anglican church.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘One of the issues that the Church of England has is that attendance is getting very low, and that is partly because its leaders are chasing these woke values.
‘You are far more likely to hear Church leaders talking about climate change or against Conservative government policies than you are about the sanctity of marriage.
‘We have thousands of people who are still faithful but don’t feel that the Church of England represents them any more. There is a massive feeling of disillusionment.’
Discussing his plans to work with the conservative Global Anglicans Future Conference in north London, he said: ‘I will be letting people know that Christ is for everyone, not just the metropolitan elite. The Church of England has forgotten the basics, which we need to get back to.’
He earlier told GB News that while churchgoers were generally ‘small-c conservative’, the CofE hierarchy is now like ‘the Lib Dems at prayer’.
He added: ‘They are the ones sneering down their noses… they think that they are above us for some reason, they have a moral superiority, they have forgotten that we are all equal.’
Explaining his decision to split from the Church, he said ‘if you stick your head above the parapet, it gets chopped off’.
Mr Robinson claims he was blocked from becoming a CofE priest after a white bishop voiced concerns over his views on racism in Britain.
He questioned whether the Archbishop himself had a part in blocking his ordination.
In internal emails published by The Mail on Sunday, the Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt Rev Rob Wickham, wrote: ‘Calvin’s comments concern me about denying institutional racism in this country’.
Mr Robinson’s junior role as assistant curate at St Alban’s Church in Holborn was also apparently stopped after the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev Jonathan Baker, told him it would ‘prove problematic’.
The Diocese of London had said it was ‘willing to work with
‘We need to get back to the basics’
him to discern the right way forward’, but Mr Robinson quit out of frustration.
A spokesman for the Diocese of London said: ‘We have a limited number of curacies available that are considered on a case-by-case basis... In this instance, it is felt that there is no suitable option available that London can currently offer. We continue to be in conversation with Calvin, are willing to work with him to discern the right way forward.’
The row comes after the Archbishop was criticised for using his Easter Day sermon to call Government plans to send migrants to Rwanda ‘ungodly’.