Though Mr. Fletcher was removed from public ministry in 2017, he continued to hold himself out as a priest in his retirement and led an active ministry life. Following the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Andy Lines in Illinois by GAFCON archbishops last summer, a commissioning service was held in September 2018 at Emmanuel Church to inaugurate his English ministry. GAFCON Archbishops Peter Jensen and Ben Kwashi participated in the service.<\/p>\n
The GAFCON spokesman explained: \u201cThe service was officiated by Robin Weekes [Emmanuel\u2019s minister]. Jonathan Fletcher did a Q and A with Bishop Lines as part of the evening. The GAFCON global folks there did not know Jonathan\u2019s PTO had been removed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that no one informed them of Fletcher\u2019s status or the allegations of misconduct. Asked when Bishop Lines understood his long standing relationship with Fletcher may have been unhealthy, the spokesman said:<\/p>\n
\u201cBishop Lines didn\u2019t begin to recognize the nature of the abusive relationship until later in 2018 and didn\u2019t fully come to grasp with it until the first quarter of 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n