Retired Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez yesterday expressed concern over the example that could be set by court action brought against the Anglican Central Education Authority (ACEA) by a group of parents whose children recently completed high school at St. John's College.

The parents took action over the ACEA's decision to cancel graduation and prom.

"As a member of the church and as a former diocesan, I am really concerned about the future of the school and the future of our involvement in education," Gomez told reporters yesterday.

"It's a pity that this conduct, which is really outrageous, has come to the center and caused such a disturbance.

"The church in every situation has the right to express moral outrage and in a country where [there are] so many young people, we have to call the young people to some sort of order and help them to understand that there is some behavior that is not appropriate in private or public.

"We have to stand for standards and to help people to appreciate the importance of standards in order to build a sensible community."

Gomez made the comments to reporters at Government House where he witnessed the swearing in of new Supreme Court judges. He spoke after he was asked to comment on the matter.

Asked to expound on his comments regarding his concern about the Anglican church's future in education, Gomez added: "If in the future this is the way matters are going to be handled, it means that we are taking another trajectory than the one we have taken in the past.

"This will be the first time that the school system is being put in court and I would not want to see a repetition of that." The parents have claimed that the cancelations represent a "breach of contract" by ACEA.

In the originating summons filed by attorney Christina Galanos last week, the parents of over 25 students are asking the court to order the school to host both the graduation and prom, or as an alternative refund the students the fees associated with both events. Galanos said students paid between $300 and $420 each for the graduation package.

Gomez said he had hoped that the situation would not have progressed to this point; however he noted the parents and students have a right to seek redress.

"Well I just think that the whole matter is rather unfortunate," he said.

"When it is necessary for people to seek redress in the court it places the church in an adverse role where the church doesn't want to be.

"Parents and students have rights and the church has rights and it's a question of measuring them in terms of how you exercise discipline, and how does a church make a stand, and what it considers to be moral outrage, and would it be the appropriate way of dealing with the outrage.

Those would be the issues." The ACEA has said it canceled the school's prom and graduation ceremony for students' "gross insubordination and deceit".

School officials were reportedly offended by a YouTube video that showed students dancing during a recent school parade.

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