This is not directly related to the concerns of Anglican Essentials Canada, but it could have serious financial and other repercussions for the Anglican Church of Canada.

Former students of Grenville Christian College have filed a $1 billion class action suit against the college, the Anglican Church of Canada, two Anglican priests who were headmasters at the college, and a Christian group called the Community of Jesus. The students allege that they were physically, sexually, and emotionally abused and harassed while attending classes there. The suit further claims that abuse persisted throughout the four decades that the school was open.

The statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Milton, Ont., on Oct. 17 names two of the school’s former headmasters, Rev. Alastair Haig and Rev. Charles Farnsworth, as defendants along with the Anglican Church, Grenville Christian College, Berean Fellowship International of Canada, and a Massachusetts group known as the Community of Jesus.

The court document alleges students were beaten with wooden paddles and subjected to “light sessions” in which they were told they were sinners. It also accuses former staff of questioning female students about their virginity and denouncing them as “whores.”
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The statement of claim alleges that Grenville Christian College, the Anglican Church and the Community of Jesus Inc. were negligent for employing incompetent staff and “permitted, either expressly or tacitly, teachers and non-teaching staff to physically, emotionally and psychologically abuse students.”

The suit was filed only days after it was reported that the Ontario Provincial Police have launched a criminal investigation into the allegations of abuse.

Stories of abuse surfaced soon after the college closed its doors in late July, ostensibly because of declining enrollment and rising costs. Religion News Blog has been covering this story since then. Click here and here for background.

It is important to note that none of the allegations has been proved in court and that no statements of defence have yet been filed.

This could be dragging through the courts for years to come.