All church volunteers who come into contact with children including Sunday school teachers and people running parent and toddler groups now face checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service, formerly the Criminal Records Bureau.
Flower arrangers, refreshment stall staff and Church sidesmen could also face checks if they have “substantial” contact with children.
The Most Rev Justin Welby warned that the Church is now being “utterly ruthless” in its approach to CRB checks despite saying that cases of abuse are now “negligible”.
In his most outspoken comments on the issue since his appointment earlier this year, the Archbishop said that volunteers refusing checks are being told: “You can’t come to church”.
Oh dear… You’d need a heart of stone… I mean, the CofE is overwhelmed with willing volunteers is it not?
It isn’t?
Well, looks like it will be even more underwhelmed then. It would seem that this Arsebishop is as batty as the previous one. Must be something to do with wearing frocks and silly hats – not to mention talking to invisible old men in the sky and expecting a response.
Next he’ll be trying to put Wonga out of business…
The wonga story annoyed me too until I read this:
“”I said to him quite bluntly that ‘we’re not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence; we’re trying to compete you out of existence’.””
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23433955
If that is indeed how they intend to do it, then good luck to them. That is exactly how to deal with organisations that one feels don’t deliver a good service.
Quite so. However, I think his ambitions outreach the ability of the organisation to deliver. I really don’t think Wonga have anything to worry about there.
I suspect you are right. However, I was so pleasantly surprised (nay, taken aback even) at this unusual resort to freedom to achieve something rather than legislation that I thought even the expression of such thoughts was praiseworthy.
When the first credit union goes tits up following the CoE’s entry into the small loans business I think we can be confident that Justin will refrain from writing a personal cheque to the union’s depositing members. OTOH I think we can be pretty sure that in the sad event of a CU collapse Justin will be the first to call for the taxpayer to foot the bill. Evidently, he’s very tough when he’s dealing with CoE volunteers and organisations loathed by the biens pensants and demonised by the BBC. Obviously he’s modelled himself on Cameron and, funnily enough, both have or had a penchant for dressing up in silly uniforms.
Do they do checks on children as well. Or is there no incest these days.
Would it be appropriate to point out that Stuart Hall would have “passed” any CRB checks until quite recently …
It would be very appropriate. All CRB checks confirm is that someone has not been convicted, not that they are not a risk. It is a totalitarian absurdity and should have been rejected out of hand as an over-the-top panic reaction to one particularly nasty crime (that it would not have prevented anyway). It solves nothing and makes potential suspects out of innocent people.
The whole thing is utterly ridiculous!
It beggars belief, that such “supposedly” educated people like Just-In Well-B (what a name that is!) can be so bloody stupid and make themselves look so pathetic.
*sigh* I really am getting old. I need a nana nap the excitement is all too much for me *Yawn* 😀