Anglican Vicar has affair with his married assistant
Pastor Dale Morgan
Anglican Vicar has affair with his married assistant *
Church left stunned as Anglican vicar and his married curate resign
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 19/09/2006)
A stunned congregation at an Anglican church has been told that both its
married vicar and his female curate have abruptly resigned for "personal
reasons".
A Church of England spokesman would not confirm or deny suggestions
yesterday that the Rev Keith White, 52, had formed a relationship with
the Rev Lynne Thorpe, 44, who is married with three children.
Worshippers were told of the resignations in a statement read out before
Sunday's services at St John the Baptist church in Ipswich.
Mr White has also resigned as chairman of the governors of a nearby
Church of England school while Mrs Thorpe has quit her job as a parish
link worker.
The statement, from the Rt Rev Richard Lewis, Bishop of St Edmundsbury
and Ipswich, said only that the pair had resigned with immediate effect
for personal reasons.
Nick Clarke, a spokesman for the diocese, would not say if Mr White and
Mrs Thorpe had been seeing each other or if they were still together.
"It is a personal matter and we are not adding to the bishop's
statement," he said.
Yesterday Mr White and his wife, Gaynor, a teacher, were not at their
detached Victorian vicarage next to St John's, a "happy clappy" church
which has built up one of the largest congregations in Ipswich.
The couple and their three teenage children have lived there since he
was appointed vicar nine years ago.
Mrs White was said to be taking time off from her job as a personal
development teacher at St Joseph's College, Ipswich, which has boarding
fees of up to £16,200.
Just over a mile away from the vicarage, at her detached home, Mrs
Thorpe declined to comment. Neighbours would not say whether or not she
was still living with her husband, Tony, a milkman.
A member of the congregation said: "Nobody had any idea that anything
had happened until this statement was made. You certainly don't get the
bishop making a formal statement every time a vicar or junior member of
church staff resigns.
"Both Keith and Lynne are committed Christians who have done a lot of
good work and are very much loved and respected in the parish."
A former travel agent, Mrs Thorpe was ordained in 2002 and took up her
unpaid post at St John's a year later.
For the past two years, she has also had a salaried post as the church's
parish link worker, responsible for liaising with local schools and
adult and youth groups.
Mr White, who comes from Merseyside and is an Everton supporter, ran a
church football team and, in recent months, had been experimenting with
making his sermons available as podcasts. Ordained in 1981, he worked in
Edinburgh, Sheffield and Norwich before becoming a missionary in Zimbabwe.