Church writes off thousands of pounds paid illegally to vicar

Martin Shipton

Trustees of a church charity have written off thousands of pounds paid to a former “happy clappy” vicar who made irregular payments to himself and his wife.

Rev Ryan Forey, previously of Citizen Church in Cathays, Cardiff, admitted at a disciplinary tribunal of the Church in Wales that he had received the payments, broken safeguarding rules by revealing the identities of children signing up to a church app and set up a breakaway church without permission.

The tribunal ruled that he must undergo safeguarding training and be supervised by an experienced cleric for two years before having another opportunity to hold a responsible position in the Church.

Citizen Church was established in the wake of the pandemic by June Osborne, who was the Bishop of Llandaff from 2017 to 2022. The Bishop had high hopes that a more informal approach to worship would result in a bigger congregation. The target demographic was students and young professionals.

But concerns soon arose about the way Rev Forey was running the church.

The tribunal judgment stated: “The first charge relates to improper financial payments which the respondent [Mr Forey] made to himself and to his wife. Between October 2020 and February 2024 when he was the chair of charitable trustees of the PCC [Parochial Church Council] of Citizen Church, payments were made to himself or his household that were not reimbursement for legitimate expenses and were not permitted under the governing documents of the PCC or the Constitution of the Church in Wales. He authorised monthly payments of £300 to himself and the clergy team in lieu of occasional office fees for services that the team did not conduct.

“The justification for this was that the nature of Citizen Church and its congregation meant the clergy did not conduct many marriages, burials etc and therefore they did not receive the fees that ordinarily they would have if ministering in a more traditional parish context.

“He arranged a further £500 per month to be paid to his wife as a ‘clergy spouse allowance’. Such conduct was conduct giving just cause for scandal or offence and represents a breach of the provision of the Constitution and/or of the Clergy Terms of Service.”

The second charge related to the period when Mr Forey, as vicar, arranged for the development of a mobile app with several functions. One allowed users to sign into church events and was used by the children’s team for children attending services and events.

Concerns were raised during the app’s development that it did not comply with GDPR requirements. On launch, it was found to display the names of users, including children in care, to all other users when they signed in.

The tribunal concluded: “Despite concerns about the safeguarding risk and noncompliance of the GDPR being raised with the respondent, the app was used between February 2023 and March 2023. The respondent declined to take the app down as he said it would be a backward step for Citizen. The charge in relation to these matters is brought on the basis of conduct giving just cause for scandal or offence.

“The third charge relates to the respondent assuming the role of pastor of a ‘breakaway’ church formed by him from within the staff and members of Citizen with the intention or objective of continuing his ministry outside the Church in Wales and Anglican Communion. He took deliberate steps in preparation for seceding from the Church in Wales while he was still in post as vicar of Citizen. Following his resignation the community he founded outside the Church in Wales briefly began to meet as ‘Be Church’ Cardiff.”

Serious incident report

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) submitted a serious incident report to the Charity Commission.

The charity’s annual report states: “The PCC does not have any plans to recover any of these payments from the Revd Ryan Forey. Other members of the clergy of Citizen Church also received payments of £300 per month in lieu of fees for parochial fees for occasional office services which were not conducted because Citizen Church was established as a parish with minimal residents. The PCC does not have any plans to recover any of these payments either.

“In February 2024 the PCC learned that an attempt had been made by Revd Forey to influence a majority of the PCC to agree to continue these payments, along with the £500 monthly payments to clergy spouses which were also ceased in January 2024. The PCC also learned that Revd Forey had instructed that enquiries be made about the transfer of certain assets of the Charity to a company, Citizen Church Ltd. This Company is not associated with the Charity and neither the PCC, staff nor Clergy are directors of the Company.

“In March 2024 the PCC agreed to a range of emergency measures to reduce spending, including redundancies.”

‘Disaster’

John Pockett, a prominent Church in Wales worshipper, said: “The Citizen Church project has been a disaster. The Llandaff Diocesan Board of Finance lost a total of £3.73m over the last five years, so they couldn’t really afford to ignore Forey’s theft of £31,200.”

In a statement issued after the tribunal’s findings were made public, Mr Forey said: “I did make mistakes; I make no excuses for them. I’ve also learned from them. Over these past 20 months out of ministry, I’ve been growing in these areas, focusing on my family and reflecting deeply.

“I’m 35 and God willing, I have another 35 years ahead of me in ministry. As painful as it is, I believe failure – in God’s hands – can become one of the greatest lessons in leadership.”

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