Conservative parliamentary candidate Miriam Cates has "strongly condemned" the practice of conversion therapy after a report found a complaint of conversion practices had been upheld at a church where she was a trustee.
In 2022, the Diocese of Sheffield commissioned an investigation into St Thomas Philadelphia church, following a complaint of conversion therapy and “exorcism” through prayer ministry which the complainant considered to be an attempt to change his sexual orientation.
Cates was a trustee for the church between 2016 and 2018. It is the charity trustee’s job to ensure that anyone benefiting from or working with their charity is not harmed in any way.
The Barnardo’s report, which investigated the initial complaint and current practices at the church, was published on Monday.
It upheld all four areas of the original complaint, while noting that there had been “significant improvement in policy and practice since 2014".
Responding to the report’s findings online, Cates said: “It has been reported that I was once part of a church that has been accused of gay conversion therapy. I have never been involved with or aware of such ‘therapy’ taking place and strongly condemn such practices.”
The complainant alleged some aspects of practice within the church in 2014, especially around prayer ministry, had caused him harm and his well-being had not been addressed or safeguarded by the Church at the time.
He alleges to have experienced a prayer session, described as an "exorcism" which sought to "drive out the spirits making him gay".
He also claims he was forced to step down from a voluntary leadership role after expressing interest in dating as a gay man, given an ultimatum to stop discussing his theological position on LGBT matters or step down from the student leadership team and not welcomed at the church following his removal from the student leadership team.
The report made a number of recommendations to the Network Church Sheffield, which St Thomas Philadelphia is a part of. These include specific safeguarding training for trustees, a formalised system to address and update on safeguarding concerns and a more robust safeguarding structure and avenue to report concerns.
St Thomas Philadelphia now makes clear that “it neither permits nor endorses prayers which seek to change a person’s sexual orientation and Prayer Ministry teams are not permitted to refer to or discuss a person’s sexual identity,” the reported stated.
In response to the report’s recommendations, the trustees of Network Church Sheffield said they have developed and implemented a “comprehensive action plan".
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox has also issued his own recommendations in light of the report.
The Diocese of Sheffield “apologised unreservedly” to anyone who had been “affected by such practices in the past".
It said: “The Diocese of Sheffield believes, along with the wider Church of England, that conversion therapy is unethical, potentially harmful and has no place in the modern world.
“There are circumstances in which an individual or group of people’s conduct within a church setting might not be illegal but might still be inappropriate. To this end we have robust procedures and policies in place.”
The Diocese has urged any victims of abuse to contact its Safeguarding Team.
