The fallout over the return to work of the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, meant that this week’s meeting of the Scottish Episcopal Church’s General Synod had been “assailed by words even before we gathered”, members were told on Thursday, the Church Times reports.
Later on Friday, a lay member from the diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney, Dr Stephen Goodyear, asked questions about the termination of the process during a debate about the SEC’s budget and accounts.
Dr Goodyear has been a signatory to letters critical of the SEC’s safeguarding and disciplinary processes in relation to Bishop Dyer.
Asked about budgeting for legal costs, the outgoing convener of the Standing Committee, Bridget Campbell, acknowledged that “there are further complaints that will require money to be spent on them.”
Accounts published last year showed that £325,000 had been spent on legal and other fees related to the investigation since 2022, and that a further £175,000 had been budgeted for 2024 — expenditure that this year’s accounts shows rose to £210,000.
Dr Goodyear also asked Ms Campbell whether the SEC could give a “yes or no answer” to the question whether the allegations against Bishop Dyer were true.
• Full story at the Church Times.
