When
Reverend Firth wrote in the Telegraph of a “conveyor belt” of baptisms for
asylum seekers last month, his voice was a quite isolated one.
At
the time, I spoke with many priests and organisations who work with asylum
seekers. They stressed they approached the issue of conversions carefully and
they were able to discern if someone had ulterior motives to seek a baptism.
It’s
a process the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, spoke about at
today’s Home Affairs Committee hearing.
Unlike
the Catholic Church, that has a very structured and long preparation process
leading to baptism for new converts, the Church of England doesn’t have a
central policy in place. Usually, people are required to attend preparation
courses that last between 10 and 12 weeks.
But
the Bishop of Chelmsford, who’s been strongly questioned during the hearing,
has stressed that members of the clergy are very careful and honest in their
assessments.
“How
do you assess what is in someone’s heart? We use the language of discernment,”
she said.
She
said she is aware of members of the clergy who denied baptism to asylum seekers
when they weren’t convinced of their genuine conversion.
She
also noted that the number of baptisms in the Church of England have been
declining over the years.