Church of England bans clergy from joining BNP or National Front
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/03/church-england-bans-clergy-joining-bnp-national-front
Any clergy found to be members of the two parties will face disciplinary action after bishops declared them un-Christian
Matthew Taylor
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 June 2014 11.33 EDT
Nick Griffin, leader of the British National party, lost his seat as an MEP in the European elections. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images
Church of England clergy face being defrocked if they are found to be members of the British National party or National Front after bishops ruled that the organisations' views were un-Christian.
The church said the two groups' views were incompatible with the teaching of the Church of England because of their respective stances on "equality of persons or groups of different races". It is the first time clergy have formally been banned from membership of any political party. Anyone who defies the ban would be subject to disciplinary procedures.
The bishops' move to, in effect, ban the two political parties comes after the General Synod gave final approval in 2012 to legislation making it "unbecoming or inappropriate" conduct for clergy to be members of a political party with policies and activities declared incompatible with church teaching on race equality.
The synod, or national assembly of the Church of England, will now have an opportunity to debate and give formal approval to the declaration when it meets in York next month. If there is no debate, the declaration will automatically come into force at the start of the meeting.
more at link