Town Church rector sacked for ‘conduct unbecoming Holy Orders’
THE former rector of the Town Church was sacked from his post after admitting ‘conduct unbecoming or inappropriate to the office and work of a clerk in Holy Orders’, it has emerged.
Matthew Barrett was also vicar of St John’s Church and ceased attending both in May when he was signed off work with stress.
Both churches were informed in September that he had been dismissed under The Clergy Discipline (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Order 2006. The roles were officially vacated on 12 August.
‘[He] has accepted, as a penalty, removal from his office as rector and vicar, and prohibition from exercising any of the functions of his orders for a period of one year,’ said the official statement.
Yesterday his replacement at the Town Church was announced. The Rev. Penny Graysmith, one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of England in the 1990s, has been appointed as priest in charge of St Peter Port. Currently chaplain at the prison, she is also a Vice-Dean of the church in the island, and will take up her new role from March.
Together with her husband, the Rev. Peter Graysmith, she had been helping to cover services at the Town Church and St John’s for most of this year.
Mr Graysmith was mission priest in St Peter Port and chaplain of Elizabeth College, but it was announced yesterday that while he will continue to be licensed as an associate priest at the Town Church, he will cease his role as mission priest at some point.
The Dean of Guernsey the Very Rev. Tim Barker said that he intended to make separate appointments to the Town Church and St John’s in due course. Discussions about the long-term future of the churches would continue, he said.
