On 14 July 2025, The Times reported that Matthew Drapper, a gay man now aged 37, had won a five-figure settlement from St Thomas Philadelphia, a joint Anglican-Baptist congregation in Sheffield, after being subjected to what he considered to be an “exorcism” that sought to “rid him of his homosexual inclinations”. The case is believed to be the first time compensation has been paid to someone who experienced the practice of conversion therapy, which the government intends to outlaw[*].
A subsequent post (16 July 2025) by the National Secular Society (NSS) reports that Matthew Drapper was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia (STP), a church linked with the CofE diocese of Sheffield. STP is also associated with The Philadelphia Network, a charity registered under the charitable purpose ‘the advancement of religion’. The report states:
“In 2014, Drapper was invited to an “Encounter God Weekend” at STP, where he was told “sexual impurity” had allowed demons to enter his body. He was then subjected to an exorcism by two “prayer leaders” (a married couple, according to The Times) to end his ‘ungodly lifestyle’.
“STP is supposed to follow Church of England safeguarding arrangements, and lists the contact details of the diocese’s safeguarding team on its website“.
Drapper left STP in 2016 and made a formal complaint against it in 2019. After STP claimed there was “no evidence to substantiate” his claim, Drapper raised the issue with the diocese.
In 2022, the Diocese of Sheffield commissioned Barnardo’s to undertake an independent investigation following a complaint made about an experience of conversion therapy and exorcism in 2014-15: Part one of this investigation considered the individual’s complaint and upheld all four areas of the complaint made; Part two looked at the current practice of St Thomas Philadelphia, part of Network Church Sheffield and the church in which the abuse had taken place. While noting the significant improvement in policy and practice since 2014, made a number of recommendations.
A detailed summary of events is given in the Church Times on 3 July 2024, which reports that the above independent investigation of St Thomas’s, Philadelphia, dated 30 November 2023, was published by the Diocese of Sheffield on the previous Monday evening, after it had been leaked to the BBC.
After publication of the review, Drapper made a legal claim against St Thomas Philadelphia which resulted in an out-of-court settlement and payment of a five-figure sum. He said: “I would have liked to have this matter heard in open court but the church’s insurers argued my claim was beyond the legal time limit and I knew we could face a lengthy legal process
His lawyer, Richard Scorer, who is a vice president of the NSS, said:
“As far as I am aware this is the first ever payment of damages in respect of harm caused by conversion or exorcism practices. “It demonstrates that churches which engage in these abhorrent homophobic practices may face legal claims and damages awards, and I hope it will encourage churches to ban such practices entirely.”
“Religious organisations are often also charities. In my opinion, charities which engage in these appalling practices should be stripped of their charitable status”.
Church of England exorcism guidance
The NSS post refers to the Church of England exorcism guidance within its safeguarding requirements; however, the conversion therapy “exorcism” appears to have been operating outwith these provisions, [See Recommendation 17 of Barnardo’s Part two report (2024)].
[*] In response to a Written Question, (27 January 2025), from Mr Alex Barros-Curtis (Lab. Cardiff West), Anneliese Dodds (Lab. Oxford West) said: “Through the development of the draft Conversion Practices Bill, we will deliver on our manifesto commitment to bring forward a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices. My officials and I are working at pace to ensure we get legislation right and protect LGBT individuals from these harmful practices”.
Update: Richard Scorer subsequently posted The Matt Drapper Settlement. Damages awarded to plaintiff in ‘exorcism’ case on Surviving Church, (21 July 2025).