The Wardman Wire

This article is a summary of articles, news items, and letters that have appeared in the Church Times over the last two and a half years. Apart from Cartoon Church, the Church Times is the only outlet that has really covered the story.

I’m preparing a precis of these articles, but it is taking some time.

My aim is to let you dive into the backstory of the current SPCK / Dave Walker / Mark Brewer affair as painlessly as possible. To get to grips with it you probably need to skim them once (sorry!).

This list is cross-posted from the Church Times blog. It is not an exhaustive list - some ‘in brief’ items are omitted to keep the list manageable.

• 24 March 2006 The future of SPCK and Wesley Owen - Letter from Chairman of the SPCK Governing body, Clive Wright
• 28 April 2006 SPCK threatens to abandon all its 24 bookshops
• 5 May 2006 SPCK bookshops - Letter from Clive Wright
• 27 October 2006 SPCK votes for partnership with Orthodox trust
• 10 November 2006 Questionable theology of SPCK’s new Orthodox business partners - Letter
• 1 December 2006 SPCK shops told to banish the Qur’an
• 8 December 2006 Removal of the Qur’an from sale in SPCK bookshops: possible repercussions in the Middle East - Letters
• 22 December 2006 - Before they narrowed the vision - Comment by Alec Gilmore
• 29 December 2006 Concerns about policy after the transfer of SPCK bookshops - Letter from the Bishop of Gloucester, Chairman of SPCK
• 12 January 2007 The SPCK shopping experience now - Letter
• 8 June 2007 SPCK bookshops plan to open on Sundays
• 15 June 2007 Sunday trading and the staff of SPCK shops - Letter
• 14 September 2007 SPCK shop staff voice concerns about their future
• 2 November 2007 SPCK rift widens: shops renamed; trustees resign
• 8 February 2008 Ex-SPCK shops close branches and cut staff and hours
• 8 February 2008 Employment rights at SPCK bookshops - Letter from John Hannet, General Secretary, USDAW
• 25 April 2008 Former SPCK shops to be auctioned
• 2 May 2008 Books and book-people: SPCK shops, and cathedrals’ historic libraries - Letters
• 9 May 2008 Bookshops withdrawn from sale
• 13 June 2008 Ex-SPCK shops ‘bankruptcy’
• 25 July 2008 SPCK shops’ bankruptcy petition meets a hitch