Vicar banned after having affair
A RURAL parish has been rocked by the ousting of its vicar for having an affair with a married woman he worked with.
The Rev John Girtchen, 66, agreed to resign and has been banned from working as a priest for four years over the relationship.
An announcement by the Acting Bishop of Lincoln, the Right Revered Dr David Court, revealed that a complaint was made ‘in regard to sexual acts with a married person, with whom he had a professional relationship and was in a position of trust as a leader in the church’.
It continued: ‘He also engaged with text messages of an inappropriate nature with the same person. These were acts which amounted to conduct unbecoming and contrary to the church’s teaching on marriage and a failure to observe appropriate professional boundaries.’
A source confirmed that the vicar had an affair with a woman and that the complaint had been made by her husband. She is believed to still be in a relationship with the vicar.
Mr Girtchen, a widower, was suspended from his job as vicar of Barrow and Goxhill, North Lincolnshire, when the complaint was made in February 2018. He has not returned to work since, but has remained in the vicarage.
The reason for his suspension was kept secret and even regular churchgoers had no idea what had happened. News of the affair and inappropriate texting was a shock to many in the quiet rural parish bordering the Humber estuary.
The facts were revealed for the first time in a statement released by the acting bishop.
The vicar had ‘agreed to the penalty of resignation’ and cannot work again in the church until June 2024 – effectively ending his career. The matter did not go to a tribunal because an agreement was made between the parties.
Mr Girtchen had been married to wife Sue for 42 years, but she died in October 2017, four months before his suspension. She had been suffering from cancer. They had a son and grandson.
The complaint about his affair is understood to concern dates after Mrs Girtchen’s death.
Mr Girtchen was not available for comment.