our story
We are a bunch of members from various traditions, different stages of life, in varying relationships to church, and at varying stages of recovery from marital breakdown. We are led by a committee of volunteers.
Broken Rites was formed in 1983 largely on the initiative of the Right Honourable Frank Field MP who had a particular interest in the social and emotional problems facing separated and divorced clergy spouses and partners. He invited anyone in this position to contact him. 26 people responded and so the group was formed. Our aims can be found on the “about us” page.
(…More of our story here soon!)
What next?
We will continue to support separated and divorced spouses and partners of clergy of all denominations and provide positive support and understanding to families in need. Through engaging with research, we work to bring down the numbers of people eligible to be our members. We seek greater uniformity over the issues of re-instatement and greater knowledge of the particular difficulties surrounding post-retirement relationship breakdown and divorce. We will campaign with others to raise awareness of the particular stresses which clergy families experience and for consistent support for those in need as a result of these stresses.
