This post should have been my reflections on last week’s General Synod and the debates and decisions on safeguarding.

But I put that on hold, because as I was working on that post over the weekend, I heard the devastating news that Clive Billenness, a lay member of the General Synod who represented the Diocese in Europe, died at Heathrow Airport on his way home from the Synod.

I suspect that Clive Billenness is not a name that many people will know. But he was a powerful ally of victims and survivors of church-based abuse and his death leaves a massive hole – not only to his wife, Linda, but to the campaign for safeguarding reform in the Church of England.

Clive was also a member of the Archbishops’ Council audit committee. He was elected to this position by the General Synod, and was an independent member of the Audit Committee, and was not a member of the Archbishops’ Council.

He was a passionate and tireless campaigner for safeguarding reform. He used his position to question the Archbishops’ Council on its safeguarding failures – in particular, he questioned the Archbishops’ Council’s statements on the status of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB), long before the Archbishops’ Council abandoned the ISB for being too independent.

Clive was in London last week for the meeting of the General Synod. He used his position to propose a way to remove the Archbishops’ Council from the process of appointing members of a transition body to move the Church of England towards safeguarding independence. I had worked with Clive on that proposal before the Synod met. Unfortunately, the proposal was opposed by the lead safeguarding bishop and fell without debate.

Hearing the news at the weekend, I was heartbroken.

Clive was one of the good guys. He was a man of immense integrity. He used his position to advance the cause of victims and survivors of church-based abuse. But he never crossed the line of inappropriate behaviour and never abused his position at Synod or on the Audit Committee..

His public challenges to the work of the Audit Committee resulted in the then-chair, Maureen Cole, issuing an apology and retraction for falsely stating that the ISB, as an “independent” body, was outside the scope of the audit committee, when in fact it was a function of the Archbishops’ Council and fully in scope of the Archbishops’ Council’s audit committee.

Clive was a passionate supporter of the Church of England, and also a passionate supporter of its victims (in terms of church-based abuse).

He worked tirelessly  behind the scenes. And his name isn’t one that will be familiar outside the corridors of Church House or the Diocese in Europe. But his death will be felt by many, many, people who never met him.

Requiescat in pace, Clive.

The Diocese in Europe has issued the following statement:

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Announcement of the death of Clive Billenness

It is with great sadness that we announce the news of the sudden death of Clive Billenness. Clive died on Saturday lunchtime at Heathrow airport as he was returning home to South West France from the General Synod.

Clive served as one of the Diocese in Europe’s lay members of the Synod.  He was also a member of the Audit Committee of the Archbishops’ Council. He served on the Diocesan Synod and had been Churchwarden and a Reader in the chaplaincy of Midi-Pyrénées.  

Clive was a man of great passion and commitment in the Church. He was a steadfast and thoughtful contributor particularly to all debates regarding Safeguarding and his work was hugely appreciated by victims and survivors of abuse across the Church. He campaigned energetically in Synod, never less so than in the group of sessions in London this past week. His knowledge of the legal and procedural issues was remarkable as was his concern for those he knew and many he did not know, but for whom he was an advocate. Clive was a generous and ready source of advice and counsel on many issues drawing on his broad professional experience.  

Bishop Robert [Innes, the diocesan Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe] shared: “Clive was fully and energetically involved in the long and demanding Synod we have just finished. He was full of creative ideas and proposals. Clive’s death is a huge shock to us all.” 

Our prayers and condolences are with his wife Linda and his family and friends.

May he Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

Any cards or letters of condolence can be sent to the Diocesan Office at The Diocese in Europe, 14 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QZ UK and they will be sent to Linda. 

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NB: my reflections on last week’s Synod will follow in a few days.