I Can well sympathise with the frustrations of your contributors (If the Church has nothing to hide . . . , September 16) relating to the recent Industrial Tribunal case involving Miss Helen Percy.

It surely must be an anachronism of the very late twentieth century that a significant section of the adult working population - ie, the clergy - appear to be statutorily excluded from the current provisions of Industrial Tribunal legislation. This was ostensibly designed to protect UK employees from the potential vagaries of their employer.

What is not realised by the general public is that the clergy are not regarded as being employees of their Church, unlike secular employees. Indeed, the House of Lords (the highest UK court) has already expressly concluded that the relationship between a pastor and the Church is not contractual as the pastor is a servant of God rather than the Church.

In reality, the pastor is considered a mere ''office-holder'' - albeit an ecclesiastical one. That is why the Industrial Tribunal, in all probability, will have no jurisdiction over such a case.

I cannot comment on the details of this particular case, but surely it is nothing short of a scandal that, even if Ms Percy were to be 100% in the right in relation to her unfair dismissal claim, she (and any of her ministerial colleagues in similar circumstances) has no right of redress within the current IT framework. Why should her worker status discriminate against her rights compared to those of her congregation to whom she would minister?

In fact, my own union, MSF, which represents hundreds of clergy of various denominations in the UK, had previously run such a test-case, on behalf of an English priest, in order to determine the contractual status of the clergy.

So what's to be done to rectify this anomalous situation? Well, obviously amend current legislation. MSF has already drafted a response to the Government's ''Fairness at Work'' White Paper (which will eventually become an Act of Parliament).

This demands, on behalf of our clergy membership, that the medieval form of relationship with the Church hierarchy should be ended. Quite simply, they should have the same employment rights as everybody else.

Ian Fulton,

Regional Officer

(MSF Scottish Clergy Section),

1 Woodlands Terrace, Glasgow.

September 16.