A charity in England, has issued a formal apology to a Christian chaplain after the chaplain was told that he would face consequences and would need retraining if he did not remove a half-inch cross pin from his shirt.
The chaplain, 73-year-old former businessman Derek Timms, has served as a chaplain for the Marie Curie charity for four years without any complaints. The charity offers care and support to terminally ill people and their families. But in September, the branch of the charity in the town of Solihull announced that it would change the job titles of chaplains to “spiritual advisors” and emphasize an interfaith approach.
A new staff person—an ordained Methodist minister—began leading the spiritual advisors. After meeting Timms, she told him that she was surprised he was wearing a cross and said he should refrain from wearing it. In a subsequent email, the minister wrote: “If you would like to have a cross out of sight in your pocket and put it on when you know for sure that you are going into the room of a person of Christian faith, that would be acceptable, but also not particularly necessary.”
Timms searched the Code of Conduct for healthcare chaplains, the National Health Service chaplaincy guidelines, the Chaplaincy Code of Conduct and Marie Curie’s web pages but did not find any references about religious symbols being prohibited. When he raised this point, the minister said they would need to have a meeting in which they would need to “make a decision about if you are suitable to continue providing spiritual care for us here.”
With the help of the Christian Legal Centre, Timms wrote back, sharing excerpts from a legal case in which the European Court of Human Rights ruled, “it is a fundamental right to be able to manifest one’s faith by wearing a cross or other religious jewellery in the workplace.”
Timms’ letter was escalated to the charity’s regional head office, which responded: “I can confirm that currently we have neither an organisational or uniform policy that would support our recent request to remove your cross while supporting patients and families in the Hospice. I apologise unreservedly for the distress that we have caused.”
Timms said he welcomes and is grateful for the apology from Marie Curie, but he added, “I believe my work as a chaplain now lies elsewhere.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “We call on chaplaincy teams and leaders across the U.K. to not be ashamed of the Christian faith, but to uphold and cherish the crucial role Christian chaplains play in supporting people at the most vulnerable moments in their lives.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Roger Kiska from the Christian Legal Centre, When asked if he believed hostility towards Christians in Britain is growing, stated that “over the last two or three years” the legal center he works for, which focuses on the religious freedom of Christians being violated, has “seen an exponential increase in the number of inquiries.”
“It is troubling that Christians simply for manifesting their faith are getting punished. Whether it be through employment, street preachers being arrested, university clubs with Christian ethos like pro-life clubs being told they cannot be on campus anymore. So it is very troubling indeed.”
He went on to explain that although the UK Government is trying to intervene in some of the Christian persecution abroad, “they’ve largely ignored the fact that intolerance towards Christians is greatly on the rise in the United Kingdom.” He further added that the law protects the rights of Christians, and it is vitally important that Christians “know [their] rights.”
In 1 Corinthians 1:18, we read that “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
This is also reiterated through 1 Peter 2:7-8, which states that Jesus Christ to the Believer “is precious,” but to those who are “disobedient” He is a “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
1 Peter 4:14 KJV – “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.”
