A holy war has broken out in a sleepy country village with fed-up churchgoers launching an attempt to oust their 'authoritarian' rector. According to Cheshire Live, tensions are high between St Oswalds Church Malpas Reverend Doctor Janine Arnott and members of the congregation since she took the post last June.
It all boiled over at a heated annual meeting earlier this month, when a clash over the appointment of a new churchwarden ended up with parishioners taking a vote of no confidence in Dr Arnott. In the minutes of the meeting, Dr Arnott claims she has been "trying to run the church calmly in the face of strong opposition".
The Diocese of Chester confirmed it was "aware of some disagreement", but Dr Arnott remained tight-lipped when approached by CheshireLive. According to the minutes, tempers frayed over Dr Arnott's suggestion that churchwarden Beverley Dobson was not eligible to stand again for the role because she had completed six years in the post.
This came on top of complaints that Dr Arnott had stopped members of the congregation from reading the lessons at Sunday services. A vote of no confidence was then reported to have taken place, with 23 votes in favour of the motion with three votes against, while two abstained and six others did not vote.
The minutes of the meeting stated: "The Rector asked what that meant. It was stated that the Rector should exit her role. The Rector asked the Archdeacon for clarification. He stated the result should be noted, but that this meeting did not have the power to remove the Rector."
The account of the meeting also stated that "the Rector was asked multiple times if she intended to continue to run the church in this authoritarian manner. It was stated that her manner, as demonstrated in this meeting, was the basic problem that had led to all the recent issues in the church"
"The Rector said she was trying to run the church calmly in the face of strong opposition. The Rector was specifically asked if an authoritarian manner was her style going forward. The Rector replied: 'Yes, it is, if you believe it to be'."
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CheshireLive approached Rev Dr Arnott for comment. The request was passed on to Chester Diocese with a spokesperson stating: “The Diocese of Chester is aware of some disagreement in Malpas and is working with the Rector and other members of the PCC to bring about a satisfactory resolution."
