A MAN whose lifestyle was particular and challenging. The victim of a miscarriage of justice. A martyr to a cause, willing to speak the truth to those in authority, eventually destroyed by a leader who feared him, his head delivered on a platter.

Canon Andrew Nunn, Sub Dean of Southwark Cathedral, is referring to St John the Baptist. But none of his meaning is lost on the congregation filling the pews of the church where Dr Jeffrey John is a canon.

Dr John is not at the cathedral services yesterday morning, and, in his absence, he is praised to the skies by those who know him. They are also bubbling with anger at the way he has been treated and vow that the incident could be the start of a battle for the soul of the Church of England.

Canon Nunn says in his sermon that the events surrounding Dr John’s withdrawal from his nomination to become Bishop of Reading are “a disgraceful episode in the Church’s life”. He adds: “I am not an angry person but I felt angry and injured and disturbed. We were all shocked. It was a body blow to many of us.”

When the story slips off the news agenda, he stresses that it should not be forgotten by Dr John’s friends — just as John the Baptist’s followers “kept his story alive”.

Canon Nunn refers to those who had opposed Dr John’s appointment as “fundamentalists who want to change the Church of England” and emphasises that “they are much more organised, much more mobilised than us, who represent the core and, I believe, the authentic voice of Anglicanism”.

He says that the incident has served as “a wake-up call that we cannot afford to ignore”, and that more energy has to be poured into better organisation and spreading the moderate message in the days ahead.

He cautions against attacking Rowan Williams, though. “I cannot blame the Archbishop, even though his role may have been central to what happened. He is the only hope that we have.”

The widespread view among the congregation at Southwark is that the Archbishop of Canterbury has forced Dr John to “resign”.

After the service, members of the congregation express their dismay and outrage. “The institution and the individual buckled under the pressure. The fabric of the Church seems weak,” says Desmond Shield.

“We are very disappointed in what has happened. This is a liberal church and we came here for that reason. It is unfortunate that an individual gets left with that sort of decision. I think the principle has to be dealt with by the whole Church. You cannot push it under the carpet for another 50 years.”

Shield, 46, a company director of an IT firm, and his fiancée, Maria Harte, 41, a management consultant, plan to get married at the cathedral soon. They left the Roman Catholic Church because they found it “inflexible” and are disappointed by what they see as intolerance in the Church of England.

“It’s a today issue,” Harte says. “The Church won’t be there long if it is all grey hair and living in yesterday’s world. People are furious about it. They are furious that he was forced into a decision. We have a lot of friends who are gay and we want them to come to a place like this and feel comfortable at our wedding. The Church should be an inclusive organisation.