Parishioners are left in the dark as vicar is removed from office
Diocese won't give details of 'unbecoming and inappropriate' conduct
Thursday, 2nd February 2023 — By Tom Foot
Reverend Jeremy Fletcher cheers parishioners up with some doorstep guitar playing during the Covid lockdowns
THE vicar of a prestigious Grade I-listed church has been suspended from duty following an investigation – but parishioners have been left in the dark over what it’s all about.
Reverend Jeremy Fletcher has left the Parish of St John at Hampstead and his Twitter and Facebook accounts have been deleted.
Mass on Sunday was instead taken by associate priest Jan Rushton and at the end of the service the Bishop of Edmonton, the Right Reverend Rob Wickham, sat parishioners down and told them the inquiry was into conduct “not fitting for a cleric in the Church of England”.
An announcement was made in the Church Times, although no details on the investigation have been given.
A source said: “What I find irritating is that while taking this action, which has effectively ended his career, the Church of England refuses to give a reason which, of course, leads to wild speculation.”
Reverend Fletcher, previously vicar of Beverley Minster in Yorkshire, one of the largest parish churches in England, took over from Rev Stephen Tucker in 2017.
The New Journal reported at the time how his induction was attended by a long list of dignitaries and there was singing from children at Hampstead Parochial Primary School.
Rev Fletcher, who had been a school teacher before his ordination in 1988, lived with his wife at the church.
During Covid, the New Journal reported on how the “rock and roll” reverend – a fan of Status Quo – played Beethoven’s Ode to Joy on his doorstep during lockdown wearing dark glasses and wielding a Fender Telecaster guitar.
Speaking of the impact of the pandemic, he had said: “I think it is interesting to think about what we will miss from this period when we get back – the quality of looking out for each other. “I hope we do not get back to just not seeing each other, and being concerned with our individual lives.”
The church in Church Row boasts and impressive graveyard with painter John Constable, Peter Cook, Nicholas Parsons and Hugh Gaitskill buried alongside suffragists Eva Gore-Booth and Ester Roper. The inside of the church was used for a funeral scene in the hit BBC show Killing Eve.
Rev Fletcher did not respond to a request for comment this week from the New Journal.
The Diocese said that Revd Jeremy J Fletcher was suspended for “conduct unbecoming and inappropriate to the office and work of a clerk in Holy Orders”.
The penalty is “removal from office and prohibition on ministry for two years”.
A spokesman added: “Revd Jan Rushton and the Revd Graham Dunn will be carrying out services.”
