Stephen Sizer

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English Church of England priest, former vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water, and campaigner on Christian Zionism and Palestine

Stephen Sizer

Image Stephen Sizer, USA July 2007.jpg
Sizer in the United States, July 2007 (photo: Eileen Fleming, CC BY 3.0)
Born July 1953
Nationality British
Occupation Church of England priest (retired); director of ICAHD UK
Known for Opposition to Christian Zionism; disciplinary proceedings in the Church of England (2012–2023)

Stephen Robert Sizer (born July 1953) is a Church of England priest who was vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water, in Surrey, for 20 years until his retirement in 2017.[1][2] The Jewish Chronicle has described him as "best known for his opposition to Christian Zionism".[3]

By 2013 he was one of the seven members of the Steering Group of the Balfour Project, the campaign on Britain's historical role in Palestine that has been called the Britain Palestine Project since February 2025.[4][5] Between 2012 and 2023 he was the subject of a complaint by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, an informal agreement with the Bishop of Guildford, and a disciplinary tribunal. In 2023 the tribunal barred him from ministry until December 2030.[1]

Balfour Project

The archived "About" page of the Balfour Project website, captured on 1 August 2013, lists "Rev Dr Stephen Sizer, Anglican vicar and author" on its Steering Group, alongside Mary Embleton, Mary Grey, Imad Karam, Peter Riddell, Monica Spooner and Roger Spooner.[4] At the project's first conference, "Britain's historic responsibilities for the Israel-Palestine conflict", held on 2 November 2012, he gave papers on "The Road to Balfour: The history of Christian Zionism" and "Theology of the Land". The Britain Palestine Project website still lists both papers.[6]

The Balfour Project registered as a Scottish charitable incorporated organisation on 12 January 2017. The Scottish Charity Register records "Previous name Balfour Project from 12/01/2017 to 19/02/2025", and the charity has been called the Britain Palestine Project since then.[5] Sizer is not named on the charity's current trustees page or its "Who we are" page.[7]

Disciplinary history

2012–2013: Board of Deputies complaint

In October 2012 the Board of Deputies of British Jews made a formal complaint against Sizer to the Church of England.[8] According to the Jewish Chronicle, the complaint was backed by the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council. The Board said it had complained because of "his pattern of posting links to racist and antisemitic websites".[3] The Church Times reported that the complaint was resolved through conciliation in 2013, and that as part of it Sizer committed to having three people monitor his online activity and the websites he linked to. The same report says that in 2012 he had been investigated by Surrey Police over online content, and that the Crown Prosecution Service decided he had not committed any criminal offence.[9]

2015: "9/11 Israel did it" post and agreement with the Bishop of Guildford

In January 2015 Sizer posted on Facebook a link to an article from Wikispooks titled "9/11 Israel did it".[8] In a statement issued through the Diocese of Guildford, he said: "I have never believed Israel or any other country was complicit in the terrorist atrocity of 9/11, and my sharing of this material was ill-considered and misguided."[8] On 9 February 2015 the Bishop of Guildford, Andrew Watson, said: "I do not believe that his motives are antisemitic but I have concluded that, at the very least, he has demonstrated appallingly poor judgment". He also said that Sizer's "strong but increasingly undisciplined commitment to an anti-Zionist agenda has become a liability to his own ministry and that of the wider church".[8] Sizer gave a written undertaking to refrain from writing or speaking on the Middle East while he remained a parish priest, to stop using social media for six months, and to resign if he broke the agreement.[8][9] The Council of Christians and Jews welcomed the bishop's decision.[9]

2016–2017: breaches and retirement

In late October 2016 Sizer attended an event at the House of Lords hosted by Jenny Tonge and organised by the Palestine Return Centre, and posted pictures of it on Facebook. He had already given notice that he would resign as vicar from Easter 2017, and told the bishop he believed the agreement no longer applied. Watson said the agreement "categorically must run until the end of his tenure of office". According to the Jewish Chronicle, Sizer was warned that any further breach would trigger "his tenure of office ending with immediate effect".[10] In March 2017, after further Facebook posts about the Middle East, the bishop stated that "Dr Stephen Sizer has again contravened the agreement he made in February 2015". Sizer was required "to cease all preaching, teaching and leading of services with immediate effect", except for his farewell services at Easter 2017, when he retired.[11]

2018–2023: tribunal

In 2018 Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, made a complaint to the Diocese of Winchester under the Clergy Discipline Measure.[12] It cited 11 examples of his conduct between 2005 and 2018. In December 2022 the Bishop's Disciplinary Tribunal for the Diocese of Winchester upheld four of them. It found that he had "provoked and offended the Jewish community" and, in the case of the 2015 "9/11" post, "engaged in antisemitic activity".[1] On 30 January 2023 the tribunal prohibited him from ministry for 12 years, including the time since the complaint, so the ban runs until December 2030.[1][12] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said Sizer's behaviour had "undermined Christian-Jewish relations, giving encouragement to conspiracy theories and tropes".[1] According to the BBC, Sizer told the tribunal that he strongly denied being antisemitic, and after the December ruling he apologised "unreservedly for the hurt and offence caused".[1]

Peacemaker Trust

After retiring, Sizer set up a charity that the Jewish Chronicle named as the Peacemaker Trust, first called Peacemaker Mediators. In 2021 the paper reported that he was its director and that Christ Church, Virginia Water had donated £6,600 to it in 2018.[3] Companies House records a company named Peacemaker Trust (10033523), called Peacemaker Mediators from 29 February 2016 to 22 December 2017, with its registered office at 25 Gordon Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 3RG. The company was dissolved on 19 May 2026.[13] The Charity Commission register lists Peacemaker Trust (1171163), a charitable company registered on 17 January 2017 and removed on 17 July 2026.[14]

Companies House appointments

Companies House holds two officer records for Stephen Robert Sizer, both born July 1953. The more recent record gives the correspondence address 39 Bevan Close, Southampton, SO19 9PE.[15][2]

Companies House appointments of Stephen Robert Sizer
Company Number Role Appointed Resigned Status Source
Campain Limited 16171248 Director 8 January 2025 — Active [15]
ICAHD UK Ltd 06060984 Director 11 June 2024 — Active [15]
Friends of Sabeel UK (FOSUK) 05595112 Director 1 November 2020 3 February 2023 Active [15]
Friends of Sabeel UK (FOSUK) 05595112 Director 22 October 2013 5 February 2015 Active [2]
Friends of Sabeel UK (FOSUK) 05595112 Director 17 October 2005 21 April 2007 Active [2]
Biblica Europe Ministries Trust 00753259 Director 16 April 2007 17 November 2017 Active [2]
Christian Muslim Council 07117432 Director 1 May 2016 6 May 2016 Dissolved [2]
Christ Church Projects Limited 04766731 Director 16 May 2003 — Dissolved [2]
Highway Trust Limited 00826993 Director 2 November 1994 22 June 2006 Active [2]
Church Society 00213142 Director 19 October 1996 16 October 1999 Active [2]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Harry Farley, Retired vicar banned over 'virulently antisemitic' posts BBC News, 30 January 2023, accessed 11 November 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Companies House, Stephen Robert SIZER: appointments (officer ID 5UBeFvM7qTitAn2eUn7OKLijY9M) Find and update company information, accessed 11 November 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 JC Reporter, Conspiracy theory vicar's new charity receives £6,600 from Surrey church The Jewish Chronicle, 12 August 2021, accessed 11 November 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Balfour Project, About The Balfour Project, archived by the Internet Archive on 1 August 2013, accessed 11 November 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Britain Palestine Project (SC047090) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 20 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Britain Palestine Project, Britain in Palestine, Papers Britain Palestine Project, accessed 11 November 2026.
  7. ↑ Britain Palestine Project, Trustees and Who we are Britain Palestine Project, accessed 11 November 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Vicar faces social media ban over Facebook post linking 9/11 to Israel The Guardian, 9 February 2015, accessed 11 November 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tim Wyatt, Dr Sizer ordered offline in order to keep his job Church Times, 13 February 2015, accessed 11 November 2026.
  10. ↑ Marcus Dysch, Stephen Sizer warned after attending anti-Israel meeting The Jewish Chronicle, 2 November 2016, accessed 11 November 2026.
  11. ↑ Daniel Sugarman, Board of Deputies 'disappointed' as Church allows controversial vicar last hurrah The Jewish Chronicle, 10 March 2017, accessed 11 November 2026.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Diocese of Winchester, PRESS STATEMENT: Stephen Sizer Penalty Judgment Diocese of Winchester, 30 January 2023, accessed 11 November 2026.
  13. ↑ Companies House, PEACEMAKER TRUST (10033523) Find and update company information, accessed 11 November 2026.
  14. ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, PEACEMAKER TRUST – 1171163 Register of Charities, accessed 11 November 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Companies House, Stephen Robert SIZER: appointments (officer ID 4Y7O3rzyOB20xsTAnN2ILARqScg) Find and update company information, accessed 11 November 2026.
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