By Martin Beckford
Telegraph
January 6, 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4127595/Married-priest-who-ran-off-with-his-deputy-questions-life-ban.html
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| Rev James Tipp and Rev Elaine Northern who both have been suspended from the church after they found love with each ather and split from their partners Photo by |
A married priest who abandoned his family and ran off with his deputy has questioned why he was banned from the clergy for life when a female vicar who held church services while drunk and had sexual intercourse with strangers was only barred for 12 years.
The Rev Canon James Tipp, 63, was banned for serving as a priest for life, while his partner, the Rev Elaine Northern, 54, was barred for 12 years, after they both left their spouses and abandoned their church duties.
Last November, Rev Teresa Davies was barred for 12 years after she admitted at a similar disciplinary hearing that she and her husband had an open relationship and enjoyed wife-swapping holidays.
She also admitted holding three church services while drunk, smelling of alcohol and swaying from side to side.
Mr Tipp yesterday questioned what he claimed were discrepancies between the punishments.
In a statement to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Tipp and Mrs Northern claim "we should have fared much better had we been promiscuous".
They state: "We have had a number of comments from those outside the church asking the questions, 'I thought Christianity was about forgiveness'.
"Although Judge [Samuel] Wiggs states that 'the Church must exercise forgiveness', forgiveness does not seem to be on the agenda and in a lifetime sentence can never be on the agenda."
The pair ran off after Mr Tipp left a note for his wife, with churchgoers only discovering what had happened when they turned up to Sunday worship and found there was no one to hold the service.
The rector, a father-of-two, and his assistant, who has four children, admitted deserting their spouses and the parish of Snodland in Kent, and in so doing acting in a manner unbecoming to the office and work of a clerk in holy orders and neglecting their duties.
At a disciplinary hearing, Mr Tipp – who was also Rural Dean of Cobham – was banned from serving as a priest for life because of his higher level of responsibility.
The couple, who are now living just 20 miles away from their former church, are divorcing their estranged spouses and intend to marry. Mr Tipp, who had worked in Snodland for 25 years before fleeing last year, will retain his Church of England pension.
Judge Wiggs, who chaired the tribunal, said: "The public must understand that the Church takes matters such as this extremely seriously.
"The Church must exercise forgiveness, but this does not involve pretending something has not happened."
The tribunal heard that the couple had worked "closely" together since Mrs Northern began working in the parish in 2003.
In February they both left their homes, their spouses and their jobs in order to set up home together, and wrote a joint letter to their local diocesan bishop, the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, explaining their actions.
"In the letter the respondents say that during their working relationship of four years, their feelings for each other had moved from friendship to being very much in love. They found it impossible to walk away from their feelings but realised the deep hurt this would cause to their partners and to the parish."
Bishop Nazir-Ali, one of the leading conservatives in the Church, wanted the pair both banned for life for "causing a major public scandal in the local community" and for abandoning their posts and their families without warning.
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