Bishop's letters: April 06 +James

ACCOUNTABILITY

‘Accountability’ is a buzz word in our society at present. For instance, ever since the shooting of Jean-Charles de Menezes in Stockwell tube station, journalists and others have been raising the issue of police accountability. Should officers with guns be prosecuted when they kill the wrong person by mistake? Who bears responsibility for tragic errors of this kind? What does accountability mean in an increasingly violent and litigious culture?

Then there was the bizarre case of the ‘fake rock’ in Moscow. Once again, reporters were on the warpath, this time with the Intelligence Services in their sights. “Why are we paying huge sums of money to finance this sort of fiasco?” they asked. Shouldn’t our ‘spooks’ and those who deploy them be more accountable to the taxpayer?

Or take the torrid world of high finance. I watched with fascination, horror and a degree of self-interest as ‘Equitable Life’ imploded a few years back. Policy holders saw their pensions evaporating and began to ask some significant questions. Why did this happen? How can the company’s directors be allowed to get away with it? Shouldn’t the government have intervened?

But ‘accountability’ isn’t only an important secular theme. It has deeply theological roots, and crops up frequently in the New Testament. Jesus taught about accountability in the Parable of the Talents. He also practised what he preached when his disciples were sent out on mission. On their return they had to report back and give an account of their activity. Jesus had granted them authority to preach and heal in his name. He had trained them, not least by his own example. Now they were required to show that his trust in them was not misplaced.

We are beginning to go down that track in this Diocese by introducing an ‘appraisal’ scheme for clergy alongside ministerial review. Doctors, teachers and members of the armed forces are used to being ‘appraised’, but for centuries priests have had very little accountability. Some may regard appraisal of rather threatening, but we hope that most will see it as a privilege. It is a sign of interest and concern, since as Bob Jackson remarks in his book ‘The Road to Growth’: “Leaving isolated individuals to get on with clergy life without accountability is a good way to destroy the church”. And of course the accountability will go both ways: it must be ‘360 degrees’ to use the modern jargon.

The same applies to parishes. As we wrestle with the issue of non-payment of parish share, we will increasingly expect those parishes that are currently being subsidised to be accountable to those paying ‘over the odds’ to keep them afloat. Again our hope is that this will serve to emphasise our mutual interdependence and the biblical imperative of good stewardship. It will also be a reminder that, as Christians, we are inherently accountable to each other because of our ultimate accountability to God.



James Newcome