Winchester Cathedral: More storm clouds
NewsWe hear that the Precentor, Andy Trenier, was listed to preside and preach at Winchester Cathedral this morning but has stood down. We hear also that employment lawyers have been consulted.
A long letter in the Hampshire Chronicle today lays out some of the concerns:
… Talk of fallings-out and tellings-off in public do not sit well with the people I know at the cathedral and they are, doubtless, exaggerations. Economies could be one reason. The choir has been down in numbers for some time and, although the pandemic was undoubtedly a factor and although long term problems, such as parental worries about boarding, will have played a part, it would seem that the cathedral prefers the route of austerity – cuts to salaries and personnel – rather another exacting campaign to raise the necessary funds.
Issues of diversity and inclusion have also been mentioned….
These explanations – costs and diversity – are only speculations, of course; but why is this so? It is because, so far at least, the cathedral officials have failed to offer any detail or to answer any questions. Such a proceeding must, inevitably, feed ‘social media’, nurture suspicions, and encourage speculation. Better, surely, to be open with all who love the cathedral and, best of all, to give iron-clad assurances to counter concerns about either economies or diversity.
Dr Andrew Thomson
The Cathedral’s own service listing on the website still shows the Dean as President and Canon Roly Riem as preaching. In the event, he did both, and there was no sign of the Precentor… Chapter also had one of their regular ‘Away days’ yesterday it is believed. Dare we hope?
I’ve forgotten, thank goodness, what the Precentor looks like! His continual absence is most welcome and hopefully he will be shortly joined by others.
Yes, we can dare to hope that the Precentor has gone and will be the first of several. The Dean was absent today at Evensong and when did the COO last appear at a service. Could there be happy times ahead? News also seems to have gone very quiet on the Interim appointment considering last date for applications and interviews had both to be completed in 24hours.
Dare we also hope that the rising concern and distress amongst the community is at last being listened to, doubtless helped by the extraordinary last video remarks given by a seemingly desperate Dean
The Dean should have been at St Edmundsbury but didn’t turn up, sending a recorded message. See the new thread.
Excellent article Dr Thomson, but sadly the public tellings off and fallings out are not exaggerated. It’s hard to believe, but everything reported so far is mild compared to the whole ugly truth, which is yet to come out. It does sound unbelievable that such a person could carry on in post with such accusations levelled at him. But the Dean has protected him and failed to respond. Loyal members of the congregation have been warned that negative comments were not welcome
They should have spoken out whether welcome or not. Similar bullying happened at Exeter a decade or so ago. The congregation did not tolerate it and eventually after an investigation, the person concerned (the Dean) left. The Church, the body of Christ is the worshippers and are bigger than any individual clergy.
We have!
That doesn’t mean to say a blind bit of notice has been taken!
Correct. I was warned of exactly that.
Unfortunately for them, I have those comments in writing, via Messenger. I’ve ensured those messages have been passed on.
I knew my habit of hoarding of messages and emails would come in useful one day!
Well done!
The Dean allegedly protected the Precentor at Wakefield, bishops nowhere to be seen, hence causing the very able and nice director of music to be sacked before the Precentor then got banned from presiding anywhere for ten years! Now still more trouble at Wakefield. You do wonder where God comes into it all.
By rearranging duties the role of precentor can be dispensed with. The Director of Music ex officio becomes a member of chapter. It will never prevent the eternal bickering between personalities but it will address one of the main pincpoints in the current system.
As an organisation that cares more about its social media presence than its music department, surely congratulations are in order :
The Dean’s cheerful yet insincere video message on Facebook has received over 22,000 views in just a few days!
While the cathedral has disabled comments on that particular post, there is nothing stopping you from expressing your sentiments on any other post …
We shall not be silenced.
Dear Sir/Madam, It was also the case that on Saturday (June 1st) Andy Trenier’s name was listing all over the service sheet for the wedding of Lauren Booth, who is the head of marketing at the Cathedral. I was present at the service and he was entirely absent, his role taken throughout by Canon Gary Philbrick. Trenier and his heavily conflicted wife (who is Head of HR for the entire Church of England) need to be removed.
Phil
I think that Dean and Chapter may have been on an ‘away day’ on Saturday. Canon Gary is a good chap.
I cannot find anywhere that Canon Andy Trenier’s wife is head of HR for the C of E. I did find that she is (or maybe was) working with the Church of England Foundation of Educational Leadership, but could not see her status in that organisation.
A very recent appointment, I believe.
One aspect of the Chapter’s spin around the removal of Andy Lumsden that beggars belief is the fluff and foam around ‘inclusivity’ and ‘diversity.’ The 2021 Census shows that 94% of WInchester’s population is white. 3% are Asisan (74% of whom do not indetify as Christian). 0.6% are black. I have not heard the Chapter say how, in concrete terms, they propose to make the current demographics of the choral foundation more representative of Winchester. It is just another sign of the erosion of trust.
I’m loving all this. It’s better than Trollope
Anthony or Joanna? Joanna might be available for a sequel…
I am have been saying (along with another lawyer on the facebook Evensong group) that solicitors should be consulted. I wonder if Dr Lumsden and young George Castle took legal advice. Sadly i am not practicing (in academia) but if I was i’d gladly deal with this pro bono as a service to church musicians. It would not take much work. From what I have read there are stong cases for unfair/constructive dismissal.
P.S I read from members of the congregation that the allegations are far from exaggerations and rather than tellings off it has been bullying and harassment.
My last comment about the sheer professionalism of Andrew Lumsden seems to have been ‘moderated’. He could be forgiven for taking the rest of the term off sick, but is doing what he does best- producing music of quality from a reduced choir, and sticking with his responsibilities. We all can see who the good person is here in this whole sorry saga.
Seeming problems with the livestream at Winchester Cathedral today. I’m sure it’s just a technical glitch. .. although permit me a moment of fantasy: a spot of divine intervention? A temporary hiatus while the employment lawyers check out the legality behind the contracts of our new “worship leaders”?
Imagine being told you are to be made redundant in a darkened building after working late and you will start to understand how these people function.
The whole situation can be summed up in this short clip https://youtu.be/nUtaAa7yqYo?si=c33lTpS_2wzrVT8r
Terry, Lancing.
Come on good people of Winchester, this backbiting and disharmony is serving no one is it. Work together and move forward, you can do it.
People haven’t spoken out because Revd Trenier is a frightening man, who is very good at making one feel that the might of the CofE legal machine will squash you like a ton of bricks if you breathe out of line. He’s also king of divide and rule. Nasty, nasty behaviour.
The other thing that members of the congregation can do is to cancel their giving to the cathedral, and indicate why. I suspect that might get through to those who are responsible for causing this appalling and unnecessary mess, and who still seem to be hoping this crisis will just go away.
That’s already happening.
Do sight the new edition of Private Eye – out today. Yet more reasons to ask what Dean and Chapter are still trying to hide?
Oh my goodness. If you haven’t seen the Private Eye article of Lunchtime O’ Boulez, I urge you to do so. Also, if you do Facebook, you should go to the Choral Evensong Appreciation Society group. Both are totally explosive and give a flavour of just how awful the working environment has become at Winchester Cathedral. The Precentor has to go, and I’m surprised he hasn’t fallen on his sword already.
As stated previously, I was a lay clerk there some time ago, firstly with David Hill and, latterly with Andy L. Most of my time was with a Precentor who was an extremely fine musician – a former St. John’s, Cambridge choral scholar and soloist for the Monteverdi Choir. Here was a man with true musical integrity and a sheer love of music (and, particularly, choral singing). As such, Music was central both to him and, because of that, was the highest of priorities for him (rightly in my view!) From this PE article and forum, it would seem that the current incumbent has no interest in Music – certainly not the music that you would expect to find in cathedral worship (500+ years worth). His appointment, it would seem, was entirely inappropriate – if just judged on musical merit alone, and not withstanding any of the allegations of inappropriately aggressive behaviour in the workplace. I would be interested to know who it was who made the appointment, and also how the recruitment process works for this sort of position within Chapters…with Deans, I believe that the Government invite a preferred person to the position, presumably with significant guidance/ recommendations from Lambeth Palace/diocese? But what about other Chapter appointments such as Precentors, Chancellors etc? Did Revd Trenier apply for this role, knowing he was going to be the head of the Music Department but with zero interest in it? The poorest of appointments I would suggest, that has resulted in total carnage. Whoever made that appointment needs to accept some responsibility as it was done with extremely poor judgement.
Revd. Trenier has to resign and I urge him to do so now. I’m afraid, I feel that the Dean has to consider her position too. Her silence in all of this can only be interpreted as supporting Revd Trenier when it is clear that his behaviour has been beyond inappropriate for a man of his position. There can be no confidence in either of them – especially from anyone in the Cathedral community who they represent but who seem to be silenced and without a voice – the saddest of ironies given that it is the future of Music in Winchester Cathedral that we are talking about – one of the finest choral foundations in the world.
Andrew Lucas has been confirmed as the interim Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral, and they are very lucky to have managed to secure his services so late in the day. I don’t know Andrew personally (I sang in a concert for him once) but I understand him to be a man of real integrity and his experience and track record speak for themselves. I trust that the recruitment process leading to his appointment was properly conducted, for fairness, transparency and adhering to employment law. I only ask as the advert was posted for about a week, with interviews scheduled for the day after the closing date. The former I don’t have a particular problem with, but the latter I find EXTREMELY irregular. Having been part of an appointment for a cathedral organist before, I would have expected this process to have included at least suitability interviews, a safeguarding interview, rehearsals with both the choristers and the full choir, and consultation with both choristers and lay clerks. I wonder whether anyone part of this recruitment can confirm that this was the case for all the candidates?
The malaise currently being experienced at Winchester Cathedral is well-documented and out in the open. Observations of aggressive and intimidatory behaviour towards employees and volunteers have been made publicly, all of which have not been denied by the Dean and Chapter. I therefore wonder about Andrew Lucas’ judgment in accepting the job. Is he not condoning this behaviour in doing so?
The silence of the Dean and Chapter in all of this is staggering. Let’s be honest – there are allegations of bullying by a member of the clergy towards employees of the cathedral. These are allegations – based on observations. By not denying them, the Dean and Chapter are merely amplifying the suspicion that the stories that we read about in the national press (Private Eye – oh my goodness…/Sunday Mail/Daily Telegraph) are not unfounded. Eminent musicians have also stated their thoughts, whilst social media is full of comment. By remaining silent, they are making things far worse, and the suspicion that they are under will only increase. The position of those responsible for this mess is untenable now. Only their resignations will allow the process of trying to rebuild from the mess they have created to begin. Too much damage has been done to that beloved place already.