Church of England Re-opens Investigation Into Vicar for Describing Trans Priest as Male

Undated photo of Reverend Brett Murphy. (Image courtesy of Christian Concern).

The Church of England (CofE) has re-opened an investigation into one of its former clergy over comments he made about a transgender priest.

Reverend Brett Murphy has accused the CofE of “weaponising” its complaints process as he now faces being formally disciplined again over his comments after describing the CofE’s first transgender archdeacon as a “bloke.”

The CofE appointed its first transgender archdeacon, Rachel Mann, in June.

Reacting to the news in June, Mr. Murphy told his 13,000 YouTube subscribers: “Now you may wonder ‘is that really newsworthy, Brett?’ You may roll your eyes, if you are a complementarian, that another feminist is getting a prominent high-ranking position in the CofE, but this is worse than that. The Rev. Rachel Mann is, in fact, biologically, a bloke, who identifies and lives as a woman.”

In July, Mr. Murphy told The Epoch Times he was leaving the CofE and his church in the Diocese of Leicester as he claimed it has stepped away from the “historic truth of the Bible.”

At the time, he said that he “fundamentally” believed that the CofE has “abandoned the Bible, and that’s the root cause of all of the issues it’s facing.”

“When you cast off from the safe harbours of Christian orthodoxy and you push away from the Scripture, then you get caught on the prevailing winds of the culture,” he said, adding that he believed the CofE is devolving into a sort of “woke wellness cult.”

Clergy Disciplinary Measures (CDM)

Represented by Christian Concern, Mr. Murphy said on Monday, he believes he has been targeted in a coordinated campaign resulting in four Clergy Disciplinary Measures (CDM) being brought against him.

Christian Concern explained that a CDM is a formal procedure for handling allegations of serious misconduct by clergy within the CofE. If a CDM is upheld by the presiding bishop, it is kept on a clergy’s “blue file” and can lead to rebukes, dismissals and prevent further employment within the CofE.

Christian Concern said that they have successfully fought CDMs against Mr. Murphy, which were subsequently dismissed.

Some of these were for Mr. Murphy’s social media posts, criticising prayers put forward for the King’s coronation by Rev. Rachel Mann that described Jesus as “our sister.” He was also investigated for expressing concern over the teaching of marriage and human sexuality in UK schools in a sermon.

Mr. Murphy said that continues to be pursued and believes the CDM process is being “abused and weaponised” to “silence, intimidate and force Anglican priests out of the CofE” who do not affirm and celebrate the plans to introduce same-sex marriage to places of worship.

“The re-opening of the complaint especially exposes the drive within the CofE to censor and banish any dissenting voice that does not agree or celebrate extreme LGBT ideology,” he said.

He added that the process is “designed to get the bad guys, the clergy who have done something seriously wrong, not for stating biological truth that is aligned with the CofE’s own teaching.”

“What is happening to me is a case of pure vengeance for daring to say what I have. It is an attempt to slur, slander and discredit me and take me down even though I have left the CofE,” he said.

“Many other Orthodox priests in the CofE are telling me that they are being pushed out and bullied if they do not go along with the same-sex marriage agenda. They are being harassed, pushed to the margins, are having false complaints made about them, and, shall we say, are encouraged to be silent or leave,” he added.

Mr. Murphy said that he “will continue to speak out on the grave concerns I have for the Church of England, as its landslide into apostasy and irrelevance continues.”

‘Clear Departure’

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The Christian Legal Centre is dealing with a huge volume of cases involving clergy who have been intimidated and punished simply for expressing standard Christian beliefs on marriage and sexual ethics.

“Promoting same-sex blessings is a catastrophe for the CofE. It is a clear departure from the biblical model for marriage. We will continue to see the Church of England decline if it insists on continuing this course.

“The churches that are growing in the UK are the ones that hold fast to traditional biblical teaching on marriage and family. This is what people want and expect from the Church.

“People expect the church to be a standard bearer for the world. They don’t expect the church to be following the ever-changing culture of the world,” she added.

A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Leicester told The Epoch Times by email that  as the investigation is still ongoing, “no further comment can be made on this matter.”

The Epoch Times contacted Rev. Rachel Mann for comment.