Marriage Care: Terry Prendergast to 'retire'

Blogged by James Preece on 9th October 2012

From the Catholic Bishops' Conference Department for Remarkable Coincidences comes the news that Terry Prendergast is to "retire"...

Dear friends

As some of you may know Terry Prendergast is retiring at the end of March 2013 from his post as Chief Executive of Marriage Care. The search for his successor has started and you will find details of the post here http://www.marriagecare.org.uk/get-involved/jobs/ceo/ Please do what you can to bring this to wider attention so that suitable candidates for this very important role are located.

With every best wish

Elizabeth

So presumably the plan now is to pretend like Marriage Care is okay now that the bad apple is gone while simultaneously maintaining that he was never a bad apple at all and just left when he was ready for family reasons etc.

Meanwhile in Marriage Care will probably carry on down the same old path but it will be almost impossible for anybody to get a straight answer out of anybody about anything for months. It won't even be clear who is responsible. How convenient.

Who knows, once this has all blown over he might even decide to stick around.

The new job description makes interesting reading - in a file called "Explaining Marriage Care’s new visual identity" I found this...

for Marriage Care, the Christian ethos is not made up of a set of doctrines but rather is an exhortation to the members of the charity to be visible by their inclusive and loving behaviour of the other by providing a rich variety of services across the whole community.

[pdf]

They don't think their "ethos" requires them to actually believe anything. They think it means whatever they want it to mean. Then we have this...

The following questions remain key to us in maintaining our relationship with the hierarchy, clergy and laity of the Catholic Church who are a major customer:

How can we best manage within Marriage Care to maintain contact with our Catholic roots whilst being open to a wider volunteer workforce, so that this is understood within the Church community?

Does the Church community understand the real tension for Marriage Care arising from the necessary divergence of message in the delivery of marriage preparation and counselling (arising, as noted above, from different service user identities and priorities)?

How does Marriage Care remain in a dialogue with the hierarchy so that our specialist and particular insight and expertise might contribute to our joint learning? In particular, there is a need to explore further.

What we all think we are trying to achieve through our marriage preparation programmes

How we develop a language for our service provision which is understandable for our different service users

How we clarify what the “teaching of the church” means in the context of our messy lives

[pdf]

For anybody not listening at the back, that's a long winded way of saying "we need to figure out a way to extract money from Catholics without actually doing anything to promote a Catholic vision of Marriage".

Are the Bishops Conference honestly falling for this stuff?

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Reader Comments

Ben Trovato said...

So are you going for the job, James? It would be interesting if the final shortlist consisted of you and Tina Beattie...

+11

Caroline Farrow said...

Ha you beat me to it Ben, I was going to suggest Tina should apply.

I liked this bit:

"How we clarify what the “teaching of the church” means in the context of our messy lives"

How about we just FOLLOW it?! Having scouted around the website it's clear that they are in a right old mess. They are trying to square an impossible circle, how to appeal to the government and the Catholic Church at the same time, but sadly the Catholic vision of marriage is looking increasingly distinct, especially given the government's determination to enact "gay marriage".

I noted that one could end up on a marriage preparation course with couples who are wanting to enter marriage or a "similarly committed relationship". So why is it called marriage preparation then?

No Catholic could take this job in conscience. Marriage care seem tp be wanting to run a business and retain Catholic customers. In this instance the dual aims are incompatible. The Church should ditch this shower of shysters and start up their own charity.

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James said...

"No Catholic could take this job in conscience"

So do you think Archbishop Vincent Nichols ought to resign from his position as President of Marriage Care?

Caroline Farrow said...

It's all very convoluted management speak on their website so it's difficult to tell what their policy is.

Without knowing precisely what the content of their courses is, it's difficult to tell, but if they do provide counselling to same-sex couples then it does make life a bit tricky. A Catholic in good conscience couldn't take the job because it involves having to clearly offer a vision of what isn't marriage and encourage others to sin, but I guess His Grace may be trying to steer it back into a Catholic direction.

Should he resign - not my call, I am not in full position of the facts but from what we can see, there is potential for scandal as evidenced by the fact we're talking about it and raising eyebrows.

+12

James said...

So when it comes to an executive role where some difference could potentially be made your view is "No Catholic could take this job in conscience"

Yet when it comes to a largely symbolic figurehead role which consists almost entirely of lending one's prestige to the organisation... that's "not my call, I am not in full position of the facts"

Interesting.

Caroline Farrow said...

Well maybe when I commented last night I was a bit rash.

I guess it depends. If Marriage Care wants to broaden its appeal and yet remain Catholic, what it has to do is ensure it provides Catholic marriage prep classes and counselling wholly in accord with Catholic teaching, but also offer this out to other denominations and faiths, many of whom share a similar vision. That would entail other faiths accepting the premis that this is a Catholic based course, but I guess if Muslim/Jewish couples didn't want the Christian content, I don't see the harm in providing appropriate separate classes for those faiths if the aim is to promote stable, faithful marriages promoting shared values, love and respect, as we know that strong marriages and families serve the common good.

If Marriage Care do in fact offer same sex relationship counselling, in particular encouraging and promoting sexual intimacy then this is clearly problematic and they are not a Catholic organisation. The problem is that the website and job description are all too woolly. There are certainly strong hints but it's all couched in very vague language. I guess a Catholic applicant would have to ascertain precisely what the situation was at present and be very clear that the future vision would not include same sex relationship counselling but then of course they'd probably be arrested for hate crime.

I suspect the crunch will come if marriage is redefined. The charity will have to offer counselling to all couples, but if that's the case it won't be Catholic. Will the church actually be allowed to discriminate in this way?

But I think it would be very difficult for a Catholic in good standing to lead an organisation which sought to promote and encourage something that directly contravenes teaching. But perhaps there is some information about Marriage Care that we aren't party to?

Catherine said...

Let's be clear as to why Marriage care cannot claim in any way whatsoever to be "Catholic" or shamefully continue to piggy back on the Catholic fundraising ticket[despite doing so with impunity re the bishops]
Its primary source of income is the £0.5m pa from the Dept for Education. this cash comes with massive strings attached i.e. you can support marriage ok but you MUST not under any circumstances work in such a way as to promote marriage between a man and a woman as an objective truth since this leads to 'unjust discrimination' - hence MC's blatant disregard for Catholic teaching on faith and morals [it was a member of the infamous Sex Education Forum from the very earliest days and betrayed Catholic sexual ethics wholesale in discussions with the likes of FPA etc] therefore its "catholicchurch.gov.uk" -style" approach to so called same-sex "unions"
MC is a gift to the anti marriage anti family state and in turn the state has got the bishops over the proverbial barrell because they FAIL to strip MC of its claim to be Catholic according to the directives laid out by Blessed John Paul II. So of course Cameron can turn round to the Bishops and say "look guys you're really wasting your time trying to oppose the inevitability of the equal marriage act with your rhetoric as MC and others show us that the Catholic voting community don't believe or support you so put up or shut up" and Milliband can claim to know the REAL Catholic view because his senior PR consultant is now Progressio Trustee Catholic Tim Livesey and his fundraiser is pro gay [Terence Higgins Trust supporter] big shot papal knight John McCaffrey

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Teresa said...

"But perhaps there is some information about Marriage Care that we aren't party to?"
Hmm. I suppose we could say that about every scandal that comes to our attention couldn't we? Thank you to James Preece for providing information on his blog that, for far too long, ordinary Catholics haven't been party to.

Damask Rose said...

"...but I guess if Muslim/Jewish couples didn't want the Christian content, I don't see the harm in providing appropriate separate classes for those faiths if the aim is to promote stable, faithful marriages promoting shared values, love and respect, as we know that strong marriages and families serve the common good."

Why is it deemed acceptable for the Catholics to deny their faith so that non-believers can feel comfortable?

Surely these people could find another marriage advisory bureau.

Damask Rose said...

Forgot to say...

"...to promote stable, faithful marriages promoting shared values, love and respect..."

So they'll be teaching them not to contracept and respect women. Excellent.

We don't want compromises now do we?

Mockery of the Sacraments said...

LOL Perhaps what Catherine Farrow meant to say was "No Catholic could be a Catholic Voice in good conscience."

Mockery of the Sacraments said...

Or maybe even Caroline Farrow...D'oh. This is what happens when you reject objective truth.

Paul Priest said...

I don't understand how a Catholic Voice can object to instructing/couselling same-sex partners.

They are about to become civil partners - to which according to their website and affiliated blogposts - the Church DOES NOT OBJECT.

http://www.catholicvoices.org.uk/monitor-blog/2011/12/archbishop-nicholss-position-civil-partnerships-consistent-church-teaching

Peter D. Williams. @Blondpidge Absolutely! Your post (which @OTSOTA needs to read) is superb: http://t.co/3W7cIQbi *Neither ...

...and if same-sex 'marriage' legislation does get passed - CV objections to the exclusivity of CPs [i.e. that they are not universally available] will be lifted - everyone will legally be civil partners [nobody will be married!!]...

So what's the problem?

Tom said...

Yes.

Caroline Farrow said...

Forgot to say, check out the smartloving.org website. Much better preparation for engaged couples.

As for the above job, Catholics need not apply.

Chrysostom said...

This is awful! Thank you for exposing it, James.
Nothing in the "Person specification" rules out a muslim or an atheist.

Among all the verbiage, this is one that stands out in "The Background Paper":
"Our vision is a society in which all adults can build and sustain strong, fulfilling, healthy couple relationships;"

Interesting - all adults? so priests are to have "couple relationships"? And bishops? And child molesters?

Our Lady Help of Christians - pray for us.
St Athanasius - pray for us
All Ye English Martyrs - pray for us.
St. Charles Lwanga and Companion Martyrs of Uganda, who died resisting homosexual rape - pray for us.
St Francis Borgia - pray for us.

Collect of the Day (St Francis Borgia)

"O Lord Jesus Christ, who are the model of true humility and its reward: we beseech Thee, that as blessed Francis took Thee as model in contemning worldly honours and Thou hast glorified him: so Thou wouldst associate us with him both in the contempt and in the glory: Who livest and reignest..."

Mark Dobson said...

Love the “teaching of the church” scare quotes! Luckily, thanks to Pullman, we now know that a magisterium exists TO IMPOVERISH/STEAL THE SOULS OF CHILDREN!

Damask Rose said...

Classic.

I started to read the first of his "Dark Materials" books to see what all the hype was about, and nearly ended up throwing the book half-way across the room. I think it was the angel murdering the priest by standing on his head, drowning or something.

There was so much elation about the books that were deemed "dangerous".

Predictable that someone could make so much money and receive so many accolades that just throws mud at the Catholic Church - pity he wasn't brave enough to use one of the other world faiths.

Lazarus said...

Quite apart from the obvious wrongs (eg same sex couples) I wonder what the actual content of counselling is once you get it. If you're a couple going through a difficult period, you're going to be particularly vulnerable if you're expecting Catholic teaching when you turn to Marriage Care and end up getting...Well? What do you get?

Catherine said...

Edmund P Adamus Director for Marriage & Family Life, Diocese of Westminster, gave the following keynote speech yesterday at the 2012 Catholic Woman of the Year Awards.

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21212

Ttony said...

If you want to see how many Catholic churches support Marriage Care, look here.

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Catherine said...

thanks for that link Ttony..

"In Newcastle upon Tyne they are tenants in the same office facility as The British Pregnancy Advisory Service" really says it all about MARRIAGE CARE... quasi Catholic agency operating on the strength of Catholic ties and money and clients for marriage prep...what a joke!