Durham: ‘I felt coerced’

Tony Jones, the former pastor of Christchurch Durham (CCD) and his fellow trustees are still refusing to respond fully to alleged abuses of power, despite new accusations – including around financial pressure.

A former trustee and elder (‘E’), who wished to remain anonymous, told en he felt ‘coerced’ by Jones into remortgaging his house to contribute more financially to CCD.

He said: ‘His teaching on giving was very forceful.’ E explained that Jones – who left CCD in December to pastor a church in the US – told him and his fellow elders that ‘they had an additional responsibility to give greater than others in the congregation, and that if necessary we should mortgage our homes to do so – which I did’.