London, Nov 23 (ANI): A village vicar in UK, who claims that he was subjected to four years of intimidation and harassment at the hands of parishioners, has been told that he cannot sue the church as he is 'employed by God'.
Rev Mark Sharpe has asserted that his dog was poisoned, animal excrement was smeared on his car, his tyres were slashed, his home phone lines were cut and even his heating oil was stolen, when he moved to the remote country parish in Teme Valley South, near Tenbury Wells in 2005.
The locals were so hostile to the new vicar that he was compelled to install CCTV cameras to protect his family.
He also said that parishioners boasted they 'chewed up and spat out' the previous rector.
Sharpe claimed he had no option but to resign after a campaign of abuse by parishioners he likened to characters out of the League of Gentleman, the Daily Mail reported.
The 44-year-old told an employment hearing that he had written to Bishops begging them to intervene, but they refused to help him.
"This is a local parish for local people - that is the attitude. When I arrived here, I held a lunch for the church wardens of all six churches," Sharpe said.
"At the end of the lunch, one of the wardens, Sally Jones, boasted that they didn't get on with the previous rector so they 'chewed him up and spat him out'."
His claim of constructive dismissal was being backed by Unite, the union but lawyers for the Diocese of Worcester referred to ecclesiastical laws which state that clergy are not employees but office holders 'employed by God.'
They say vicars are therefore not eligible to claim unfair dismissal, because God cannot be sued.
He eventually left in September 2009 after developing stress-related ill-health.
"I feel like four precious years of family life have been robbed from us," said Sharpe's wife.
"It has been the worst time of my life. I used to be a committed Christian, now I am agnostic."
"If this is Christianity in action I don't want anything to do with it," she added. (ANI)
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