Diocese of the Murray Bishop Keith Dalby speaks out after he was forced to step down over undisclosed relationship with Reverend Alison Dutton

One of the state’s most senior Anglicans has been thrown out over his secret wedding with a priest – but the couple say the church’s reaction is cruel and misguided.

One of the state’s most senior Anglicans has been forced to stand down over an undisclosed relationship with a priest in his diocese – but the couple say the church has overreacted by calling their marriage shameful.

In a scandal that has rocked the Diocese of the Murray, Bishop Keith Dalby married the Reverend Alison Dutton in a secret ceremony last August – the same month that he ordained her as one of the diocese’s first three female priests.

They delayed disclosing the marriage to the diocese because of persistent allegations about the nature of their relationship, which had until recently, they insist, been purely professional.

When the diocese was made aware in December, Bishop Dalby, 62, said he was asked to resign without an investigation or due process.

While the pair said they were “happy to be admonished”, the actions of the church had been extreme and had taken a toll.

Bishop Keith Dalby and the Reverend Alison Dutton. Picture: Ben Clark

“While we have contrite hearts about not disclosing it to the diocese straight away, the reaction has been disproportionate,” Reverend Dutton, 43, told The Advertiser.

“The church has elected to make this shameful and we’re not ashamed of getting married, we’re very proud of our marriage.”

‘A very anti-women diocese’

Bishop Dalby said he began to experience hostility from parts of the diocese in mid-2022 following a speech he made to the synod, announcing he would facilitate a debate around the ordination of women priests.

Though it had been flagged by his predecessor, the move proved controversial and he said opponents began to agitate against him.

“It was a very anti-women diocese,” he said.

He had returned to South Australia from NSW with his former wife to take up his role in 2019. However, their marriage broke down in 2021.

Diocese members began making complaints about the relationship between Bishop Dalby and Reverend Dutton, who had moved from NSW in 2020 to study theology and pursue a calling in the ministry.

The assertion that their relationship had become personal – and, therefore, inappropriate because he was her superior – was vehemently denied by both.

“Alison and I hardly saw each other, maybe two or three times a year,” Bishop Dalby said.

In August 2022, in an attempt to quash the rumours, he launched an independent investigation into himself.

The inquiry took four months, cost in the range of $70,000 – paid for by the diocese – and heard from several people with connections to the situation.

Ultimately, they said, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

“There was truly nothing to see. It was a professional working relationship,” Reverend Dutton said.

Following more complaints, a subsequent investigation was launched by the church’s episcopal standards director in March 2023.

A wedding and an ordination

In May-June of that year, Bishop Dalby and Reverend Dutton, who was ordained a deacon in December 2022, began working more closely together in a professional capacity.

It was at that point they first developed romantic feelings for each other.

“We found out very quickly that we actually really liked each other,” he said.

Due to the Anglican vow of chastity, they quickly decided to get married and wed in a civil ceremony in Queensland on August 22.

However, given the prior accusations, they wanted to disclose the relationship sensitively.

“We intended to tell everyone at the beginning of this year,” Reverend Dutton said.

“We just wanted to put a little bit of space between the conclusion of the investigation and the announcement that we have been married.”

In June 2023, at about the same time they began the relationship, the Diocese of the Murray voted 57-4 to allow the ordination of women as priests.

The decision came 31 years after the first women were ordained in Australia.

Reverend Dutton and two others became the diocese’s first female priests in an ordination conducted by Bishop Dalby on August 12 – 10 days before their wedding.

She was put forward for ordination following unanimous approval by a council that did not include Bishop Dalby.

Bishop Keith Dalby (behind) ordaining Reverend Alison Dutton (front left) on August 12, 2023 at Mount Barker. Picture: Flickr/AdelaideAnglicans

Congregations told on New Year’s Eve

Following her ordination, Reverend Dutton was appointed Assistant Curate at the Parish of the South Coast.

Due to a priest vacancy, Bishop Dalby had assisted at that parish throughout 2023 and the pair found themselves at various points working together.

However, they stressed Reverend Dutton’s appointment was a decision of the parish council.

They put in place plans to go public with the relationship, including arranging a separate line manager for Reverend Dutton.

“We love our jobs. We want to be here, we want to help the Diocese of the Murray,” Reverend Dutton said.

In early December, the diocese was made aware of evidence of the relationship and confronted Bishop Dalby.

He said he was initially asked to step aside while a review took place, but the next day was asked to resign.

“The issue for them was that they believed I had withheld information from them, I deceived them, that I’d lied to them and so they lost their confidence in me as the bishop,” he said.

Reverend Dutton has also been unable to continue in her position.

On December 15, a stand-in administrator said in a memo that Bishop Dalby had stepped aside, effective from December 9, but no further information could be provided.

Then, on New Year’s Eve, congregations across the diocese were told of the details at Sunday services – including that disclosures surrounding the marriage presented “insurmountable implications under the circumstances”.

Reverend Dutton, who is an employment lawyer, said the church had shunned proper process and publicly shamed the pair.

“Nobody has actually put any allegations to us,” she said.

Clergy are considered “office holders” of the church and therefore not entitled to the same protections as employees.

The church responds: Diocesan Council of the Diocese of The Murray statement

A statement from the diocesan council of the Diocese of The Murray said it was “not appropriate in the interests of either Bishop Keith or Reverend Alison or the Diocese of The Murray to provide detailed responses to your queries at this time”.

A spokesman confirmed congregations became aware of the relationship on December 31.

“The diocese is working through the matters in line with the procedures and protocols of the Anglican Church of Australia and in a way which is sensitive to the Bishop and Reverend Alison and which ensures at all stages that they are afforded natural justice,” he wrote.

He said “due process is being and will continue to be followed in dealing with this matter”.

“We can confirm that the Bishop has stood aside. He is not performing any executive decision making nor is he carrying out any pastoral duties,” he said.

“The diocese does not accept any suggestion that Bishop Keith or Reverend Alison have been subjected to a toxic workplace. The diocese has at all times endeavoured to deal with this matter in a way which is sensitive to the interests of both Bishop Keith and Reverend Alison and to the interests of the diocesan community as a whole.”

Originally published as Diocese of the Murray Bishop Keith Dalby speaks out after he was forced to step down over undisclosed relationship with Reverend Alison Dutton