A former Bishop of Durham, Rt Rev Paul Butler, is one of several clergy members who have been asked to "step back" from ministry while safeguarding reviews, prompted by the Makin review, are underway.
This announcement follows the findings of the Makin review, which concluded that the abuse committed by John Smyth became an “open secret” within the conservative evangelical network.
The review named numerous individuals, including some who were involved in covering up the abuse in the 1980s and others who only learned of it after survivors made disclosures in recent years to the Diocese of Ely.
Dr Helen Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, expressed on social media that there is a significant crisis of trust in the episcopate.
She emphasised that those named in the Makin review must now step back from public ministry while independent investigations take place.
The Makin review, which began in 2019, uncovered a troubling history of abuse within the Church of England.
It led to several clergy being subject to safeguarding reviews. For example, Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, had his permission to officiate withdrawn in 2020, though it was later restored in 2021.
Carey has since disagreed with the conclusion that he was aware of Smyth's abuse.
Other figures, such as the Bishop of Lincoln, Rt Rev Stephen Conway, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, were subject to reviews in 2021, but no further action was recommended in their cases.
According to Church Times, in the wake of the Makin review's publication, the National Safeguarding Team (NST) is now working with relevant dioceses to assess any immediate safeguarding risks posed by the clergy involved.
The NST is also exploring whether any of the individuals named in the review should face disciplinary action under the Clergy Discipline Measure.
To this end, an external barrister has been commissioned to create a “threshold document” to help determine whether further steps should be taken.
Bishop Paul Butler’s involvement is linked to his role as president of Scripture Union from 2011 to 2017.
While Scripture Union did not directly run the camps organised by the Iwerne Trust, where Smyth served as camp leader, it did employ several staff members at Iwerne and supported its operations.
The Iwerne Trust, which was later absorbed into the Titus Trust, was where the abuse by Smyth took place.
In 1982, Alan Martin, the then-director of Scripture Union, was informed about the abuse but did not take further action at the time.
In 2014, Scripture Union was notified of non-recent abuse disclosures, but the review found that their key figures, including Tim Hastie-Smith, failed to adequately verify the information or involve the police at the time.