BishopAccountability.org
	Seven Years out for Vicar Who Had Affair By Victoria Nicholls EDP 24 November 17, 2008 http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=NOED17%20Nov%202008%2017%3A07%3A11%3A390 A vicar who had an affair with a parishioner to whom he was giving marriage counselling has been banned from the church for seven years. A tribunal heard that Rev Andrew Gair started the relationship with the woman when she turned to him for help. After Mr Gair agreed to help the couple in 2004, he would see them separately, sometimes going for long country walks with the woman. The Telegraph reported that the following year Mr Gair, who lives in the High Street in Wrentham, near Beccles, is said to have confessed to the man that he had become “intimate” with his wife, adding: “It just happens.” And after ending the relationship married Mr Gair turned down the post of rector of Stiffkey, near Wells in Norfolk, a position once held by one of history's most controversial clergymen, the so-called “prostitutes' padre”, who was defrocked after being tried for immorality with young women. Mr Gair, who was the rector of St Mary's in Debden, Essex, denied unbecoming conduct, as he said there had been no adultery. The woman is said to have admitted that she and Mr Gair loved each other and that there had been “intimate touching”, but denied they had sex. The tribunal, which was told that the couple exchanged intimate text messages and e-mails, was told that the pair finally agreed to see less of each other. The tribunal determined that Mr Gair, the Padre of Carver Barracks in Essex, acted “in a manner unbecoming or inappropriate to the office and work of a clerk in holy orders”. It prohibited him from exercising any of the functions of his holy orders for seven years. The post of the vicar of Stiffkey was once held by Harold Davidson, who was ousted from the church in 1932, after a trial which delved into 12 years of his life during which he befriended a string of women on the streets of London. He went on to become a national celebrity, and, drawing on the bible story, Daniel in the lions' den, made his living for a spell speaking out against the church from inside a lions' cage at Skegness Amusement Park, only to be killed by one of the lions. A spokesman from the Stiffkey Parochial Church Council confirmed Mr Gair had been offered the post several years ago and said: “We were extremely disappointed he did not take up the position.” Jan McFarlane, from the Norwich Diocese, said: “The Reverend Andrew Gair was appointed to the benefice of Stiffkey and Bale a number of years ago but he withdrew his acceptance of the position. “As this priest has never ministered in the Diocese of Norwich, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.” Mr Gair was unavailable for comment.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.