General Synod

What happened at General Synod

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the meeting of General Synod, and especially for me. Your prayers are much appreciated. I know that many of you will have followed proceedings each day, but for those who didn’t here’s a summary the important parts of what we did:

Safeguarding Independence

Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults has been a major difficulty in the church for the last few years. There has been disagreement, accusation, and downright failure. An independent review of safeguarding was therefore commissioned and brough to synod for consideration, along with a paper on the future of safeguarding in the church. The paper essentially proposed two things: first, that operation of safeguarding be moved from the 42 separate Diocesan groups, to one national independent body; and second, that a second group be set up to have independent oversight of safeguarding. Unfortunately, this paper was only issued a few days before synod met, allowing very little time for careful consideration. We decided, despite to a very vocal opposition, to come back to this at a later date.

Same sex blessings and services

We have been discussing these topics for a very long-time, but with little progress and no agreement. A majority of bishops, and a small majority of laity and clergy (around 55%) want radical change, while other bishops and a significant minority of laity and clergy (around 45%) uphold the global church’s traditional, biblical view. However, the Church’s doctrine is clear in its support of the traditional view of marriage, one man and one woman for life, and is supported by the canons (church rules). A change in a canon can only be achieved with a 2/3 majority in each of the three houses of Synod. We appear to have reached an impasse.

Martyn Snow, bishop of Leicester, has taken over from the bishop of London as lead bishop for the process. Martyn called for a ‘reset’ of the debate and offered ten rules that we might adopt and follow to enable further debate. His paper was debated, and some amendments (largely helpful in my view) were rejected. However, we never took a vote on the final motion because a (revisionist) member of synod called for a ‘move to next business’. This is an instrument in the standing orders that, if passed, stops the debate and moves on to the next agenda item. It also prevents the same debate coming back to synod. It’s hard to read this any other way than to say that the revisionists do not want to move forward together with conservatives. It’s hard to say where we can go next. Pray for Martyn Snow.

Parochial Fees

We voted to allow PCCs to retain the fee for clergy taking funerals in crematoria or cemeteries, rather than sending them to the Diocese. This requires legislation before it comes into practice.

Future Of Work

Following a motion from Oxford Diocesan Synod we discussed the impact of changes in the workplace, and especially the impact of Artificial Intelligence. We affirmed the dignity and value of purposeful work as a significant component of human flourishing.

Archbishops’ Commission on Families And Households.

We welcomed this report. Somewhat surprisingly, an amendment to “reaffirm the value of marriage, especially when loving, as providing the most stable and permanent environment for bringing up children” was defeated.

Church Commissioners’ Response to Links To Transatlantic Chattel Slaver

We discussed a presentation that included the Church Commissioners’ plans to set up a £100m fund to “enable grant-making, aiming to reach communities who have been impacted by the unjust legacies of African chattel enslavement.”

Estates Evangelism

Introduced by the ever animated and contagiously enthusiastic Philip North (bishop of Blackburn) we dedicated ourselves afresh to the goal of achieving a loving, serving and worshipping Christian community on every significant social housing estate in the country.

Clergy Pensions

Revd Dr Ian Paul introduced a private member’s motion. He demonstrated the eroding nature of clergy pensions with clear examples and costed proposals to address it. A debate followed with one speaker after another bemoaning the state of clergy pensions and stipends. There were numerous stories of hardship, some quite shocking. A unanimous vote asked for a review of clergy pensions and broader clergy remuneration.

Removal of Divorce Impediment to Ordination

As things stand a person cannot go forward for ordination if they have been divorced and remarried, and their previous partner is still alive; or if they are married to someone in that position. However, an exception can be made by seeking agreement from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. As there are now so many in this position, and so many appeals to the archbishops, the proposer of the motion asked that this bar to ordination be removed. An amendment was tabled suggesting that the appeal should go to the diocesan bishop instead, following guidelines produced by the archbishops. The amendment was carried, and the amended motion passed.

(I am grateful to Ian Burgess, EGGS member, for his report which formed the basis of this document)