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Statement from members of the Standing Committee and majority of the PCC of St Mark's Church, Reading
We express our understanding for the investigation and actions taken by Ship of Fools with regards to the two Mystery Worshipper reports posted under the name of "Freddie". We appreciate your need to maintain good practice on your site in order to protect your credibility. From our knowledge of the situation, we too believe these reports to be erroneous, which has and continues to cause upset in our parish.
For the sake of clarity we should like to set the record straight on certain details that are given in the Mystery Bullshipper article, not least because we wish to protect the reputation of our parish:
1. It is stated that Fr Peters claimed to the editor that he had not known of the Westminster Abbey Mystery Worshipper report prior to being questioned about it and had to locate it through a Google search. We assume he made this claim in late August. However, he had reproduced the report in full with his own introduction in late July. There is no room for ambiguity in his introduction, for Fr Peters writes: "I certainly remember the service (and the comments of the woman reporter are accurate)."
2. After the anomalies had come to light, Fr Peters wrote to the Ship of Fools editor: "When I saw that the Priest Vicar hadn't been named I saw a chance to put it in St Mark's paper and make them feel a little more important that they have a Priest Vicar as their Vicar also... and would put a few smiles on people's faces." As representatives of this congregation we should like to say that we do not seek to be encouraged to feel more important about ourselves, nor have "smiles" been put on people's faces. Many, perhaps most, of the congregation already knew that our Vicar was a Priest Vicar at the Abbey as he had previously mentioned it in the parish magazine, from the pulpit and in conversation.
3. In September Fr Peters did offer an apology to the Standing Committee. We heard nothing of the evidence that linked him to Freddie. We were told that he had seen the Mystery Worshipper report and it was a genuine mistake, that he believed that it was about him. Sadly, we cannot now understand this apology as sincere.
4. It is stated in the Mystery Bullshipper article that one suggestion Fr Peters has made as to how the reports came to be sent from his computer by using a personalised and unusual password is that many others have access to his home and computer. We do not recognise his description of keeping an open house at The Presbytery, nor do we know of anyone who has had any access to his computer. We wish to distance ourselves from any suggestion that these reports may have been written by someone connected with St Mark's Church or parish.
There has been speculation on the Ship of Fools Bulletin Boards as to whether this particular upset about the disingenuous reports and the misrepresentation exists within a wider context in the Reading parishes. We deeply regret to say that it does and we ask for your prayers as we seek a way forward with charity and truthfulness.
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