The Church of England has become painfully good at surviving scandal...Accountability becomes a process rather than a consequence.

A person walking into a BMO should be able to discover who governs it, who holds its leader accountable, who oversees safeguarding and where they can complain or whistleblow without needing to understand the internal machinery of the Church of England...We have already seen what can happen when charismatic leadership grows faster than the structures capable of challenging it.

I’m sharing this important piece from House of Survivors because it reiterates something safeguarding institutions still too often fail to grasp: abuse does not expire because it is labelled “historic”. The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ position statement recognises the potentially lifelong impact of non-recent child sexual abuse. House of Survivors goes further, highlighting the secondary trauma that can be caused by defensive, adversarial institutional responses.

Content warning: This post discusses allegations of rape and child sexual abuse. When reporting an allegation of rape, language matters. “Having sex” implies mutuality and consent. It sanitises the alleged actions of the adult and turns a child into a participant in their own alleged abuse.

This week, Guarding the Flock turns one. A year ago, after blowing the whistle on serious safeguarding and culture concerns, I genuinely thought my career was over. The truth is, there were days I thought my life was over. The toll it took on me was painful. I couldn't imagine ever working in safeguarding again. But somehow, out of that, Guarding the Flock was born. It didn't begin with a business plan. It began with a laptop, long days at my kitchen table, and countless hour

Independent safeguarding reviews have become one of the Church's favourite forms of institutional theatre: commission a report, express concern, promise change, and carry on much as before. After reading enough of them, scepticism isn't cynicism. It's a rational response to an institution that has become far better at reviewing failure than confronting it.

If Synod leaves believing that the seal of the confessional is the Church's biggest safeguarding problem, it will have missed the central lesson of the last thirty years.

Whatever your theological convictions, safeguarding asks a different question. Is somebody being harmed? Safeguarding is not about policing belief. It is about recognising when power, influence and spiritual authority are exercised in ways that cause harm.

Fr Robert Thompson, Vicar of St Mary's with All Souls', Kilburn, and St James's and the Sherriff Centre, West Hampstead, and a member of General Synod, explores why the Church's next safeguarding challenge is not compliance, but culture. A thoughtful reflection on accountability, trust, and creating churches where people feel safe to speak.