The Charity Commission has issued formal guidance to a Christian charity after concerns were raised over a sermon at its premises promoting coercive behaviour.
Wales-based Tabor Baptist Church, which registered as a charity in July 2024, was reported to the Charity Commission in October last year by the National Secular Society (NSS) over a video of a sermon uploaded to YouTube earlier that year.
NSS accused the sermon, delivered by the charity’s chair Andrew Love, of promoting “medieval misogyny” by saying that when a “wife fails to submit to a husband: she usurps his authority, doesn’t listen to him, wants to be the leader, and the marriage is in great difficulties”.
The regulator subsequently opened a compliance case following the NSS’s reporting of the charity, which has now closed.
Concern over potential misinterpretation
The regulator confirmed that it has concluded its case into the Tabor Baptist Church, surmising that the sermon “as a whole, contained content that provides context for the charity’s intended religious message”, without escalating its intervention further.
However, it opted to issue formal regulatory advice and guidance to the charity as it also expressed concern about the potential consequences of people misinterpreting Love’s sermon.
In a message to NSS seen by Civil Society, the regulator said: “Our advice included highlighting what constitutes coercive behaviour, reminding them of their safeguarding duties towards their beneficiaries and around strengthening relevant policies and procedures. We determined that no additional regulatory action is required by the commission at this time.”
It added that its investigation had found that the charity had not breached its objects or legal duties and that its case into the matter was therefore closed.
Charities promoting misogyny should be removed, NSS says
Meanwhile, NSS published a report this week recommending that the commission should revoke the charitable status of any charity that promotes the “subordination, coercive control or violence against women and girls, or other forms of misogyny”.
It additionally recommended that the regulator review the charitable purpose of “advancement of religion”, with a view to its removal, and urged the government to include a focus on religion within strategies to tackle misogyny, extremism and violence against women and girls.
NSS described the commission’s method of providing advice and guidance to charities such as Tabor Baptist Church as “ineffective” after concerns have been raised.
It described Scottish charity regulator OSCR as “even more toothless; it refuses to intervene at all on religious charities promoting misogyny if that misogyny is part of the charity’s religious beliefs”.
A spokesperson for OSCR said: “OSCR is required to work within the law as it is set out by parliament, and advancement of religion is a charitable purpose under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
“Where OSCR has evidence that a charity’s expression of religious views either breaches the law or has the clear and direct effect of harming others, OSCR will consider if the charity still meets the charity test or if any of the charity trustees are guilty of misconduct.
“In considering whether expressions of religious views may potentially breach the law, we are also required take into account the specific legal protections the expression of religious beliefs have under the relevant sections of equalities law.”
The Tabor Baptist Church and the Charity Commission have been contacted for comment.
