Social mediaA Cardiff vicar claimed thousands of pounds for him and his wife for work he did not do and set up a “breakaway” church, a tribunal has found.
Ryan Forey, 35, claimed the money while overseeing Citizen Church in the city, according to a Church in Wales tribunal.
Mr Forey also set up an app which allowed users to see the names of children attending church, including children in care, breaching safeguarding rules.
He admitted the allegations and was ordered to undergo training before he can return to his role.
In a statement, Mr Forey said he accepted responsibility for the charges and regretted the mistakes he made.
Mr Forey moved to Wales in 2020 and a week after being made a priest was put in charge of the Citizen Church in Cathays.
The church, which caters mainly to students and a younger congregation, was active on YouTube and Instagram.
But Mr Forey, who was described as a “talented and charismatic young priest”, was claiming money he was not entitled to according to the disciplinary tribunal.
It also found the “support, supervision and guidance” he received from the church was “significantly absent”.
Mr Forey resigned from the Church in Wales in April 2024.
The tribunal found Mr Forey paid himself £300 a month for services “which were not conducted”, and arranged for his wife to receive a £500 a month in “clergy spouse allowance” between October 2020 and February 2024.
It was found these were not “legitimate expenses”.
The tribunal also said Mr Forey set up a mobile app that showed the names of children attending his church, including children in care.
He refused to take the app down, despite being told about the “safeguarding risk” and data protection issues, it said.
Mr Forey also set up a “breakaway” church, Be Church in Cardiff, which operated outside the Church in Wales without consent.
The tribunal heard the payments to Mr Forey were not concealed, and he held a “genuine, albeit misguided belief” that they were allowed, “having seen similar practises used in previous churches he had worked at”.
Mr Forey told the tribunal he took “full responsibility” for allowing the use of the app, and said the period was a “particularly difficult time” for him and his wife.
He said setting up the alternative church was an “action born out of hurt, vulnerability, and a crisis of faith in his future in the Anglican Communion”.
Social mediaAccording to the tribunal judgement, Mr Forey was asked to move to Wales during his final year of training.
It found he “missed the structured support of a formal curacy” as he was “placed by the former Bishop of Llandaff immediately into an incumbency-level post”.
It also found the Covid pandemic “limited opportunities for oversight and mentoring”.
The tribunal heard the “absence of appropriate structured support” at Citizen Church “contributed significantly” to why Mr Forey appeared before the tribunal.
But it found that even with the “failings of supervision, support and mentoring”, Mr Forey was “prepared to ignore the rules – and pursued courses of action which he should have realised would have brought the Church in Wales into disrepute”.
It found he “had not been adequately prepared” for his role in Citizen Church and “support, supervision and guidance were significantly absent”.
The tribunal ordered a “monition”, a formal warning or caution, for all the charges.
It means Mr Forey cannot hold a “relevant post” until he has carried out safeguarding training and undergone supervision for two years.
The tribunal findings come after a turbulent few months for the Church in Wales.
In June the Archbishop of Wales retired following the publication of reports that highlighted alleged financial mismanagement and safeguarding issues at Bangor Cathedral.
There was no suggestion the then archbishop behaved inappropriately.
In a statement, Mr Forey said he accepted responsibility for the charges and regretted the mistakes he made.
“This has been a painful season, but I have learned a great deal through it,” he said.
He added: “After 20 months out of ministry – a season of reflection and growth – my family and I are now ready and eager to return to England and get back to sharing the hope of Jesus who has held us throughout this season.”
On his Instagram page, Mr Forey published the Church in Wales judgement and a statement claiming his family had endured “gossip, rumours and online trolling”.
He said the Citizen Church “grew big, we grew fast, we got things wrong and we grew through that”.
He added: “I did make mistakes, I make no excuses for them. I’ve also learned from them.”
The Church in Wales said it did not want to comment.
