FOR a town that prides itself on progressiveness and tolerance, the fracture lines that have opened up in public opinion in Reading are proving deeply uncomfortable.

Even the mayor admits that the sense of divided views over the appointment of Jeffrey John is palpable.

The only happy citizen is, perhaps, Andy Murrill, Editor of the Reading Evening Post, who has seen circulation soar by 10 per cent because of the controversy.

On the streets of this Berkshire town views are becoming polarised. Some people are calling on the Church to allow Reading’s Christians a say in the choice of bishop; others are demanding some form of compromise.

Some expressed dismay at Dr John’s recent disclosures, and some took a far less liberal line, insisting that homosexuality remained “unnatural, whatever century you are in”.

This is not the first time that Reading has been caught up in a religious storm. In the town centre, amid the ruins of the medieval abbey, stands the gateway where Hugh Cook of Faringdon, the last Abbot of Reading, was hanged by his close friend Henry VIII for refusing to deny the spiritual authority of the Pope.

Just behind the site looms another landmark to insurrection, HMP Reading, formerly Reading Gaol, where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for two years after being convicted over his homosexuality.

Mr Murrill said that the number of letters the paper had received and a jump in sales reflected the debate that Dr John’s selection had generated. He said that the paper remained strongly in favour of Dr John, who fitted with the town’s liberal slant, born of its historical association with figures such as Wilde and Cook, torchbearers for controversial causes.

Philip Giddings, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Reading and a lay minister at Greyfriars church, described the selection of Dr John as “a very saddening development”.

He said that the church council at Greyfriars would consider refusing to pay its annual levy, a protest strategy likely to be adopted in many parishes. The money represents the main part of the diocesan budget, including funding clergy salaries.

“If Dr John decided to go ahead, it is likely that a number of churches in this area would consider whether they could really invite their bishop to minister in their parishes, whether their clergy needed alternative episcopal oversight, and whether they could continue to pay their parish share,” he said.

“It would be very sad to have to do this, but Dr John is not a bishop in agreement with us. It is a very important question for the parishes in the area, but it also has much larger significance.

“It affects Anglicans throughout the country. Many people will be alternatively disturbed and dismayed about this issue and the divisions it is causing.”

Jeanette Skeats, Reading’s Conservative mayor, said that she, like many, felt caught in the crossfire and had decided to keep her counsel. “It has become very political and a lot of people do feel very passionately about it,” she said. “Around Reading you can really sense the split.”

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