Synod Round-Up Friday 10/07/26

Anglican Futures
1 day ago
6 min read

The final meeting of this 'General Synod' began with a relatively uncontroversial first session:

There were anodyne addresses from the Archbishop of York and an ecumenical guest from the Roman Catholic Church.
The debate on the Business Committee raised a questions about the purpose of fringe meetings, the armed forces covenant, CNCs, members joining online, the way question time operates, the resources for the debate on National Unity, the "avalanche" of synod papers and the need for further debate on the redistribution of funds in the church.
A Private Members Motion Affirming neurodiversity in the life of the Church appreciated and appeared to pass unanimously
Questions - on Makin, the working of the CNC, the FIFA World Cup prayer, the definition of 'intimate', Project Spire, and ethical investment among others.
General Synod were then invited to a half night of prayer.

For those wishing for a bit more detail:

General Synod began with a Presidential Address from the Archbishop of York who set out his hope for the Church of England - here are three snippets to go along with:

"This vision was always about putting Jesus at the centre. To recall us to him. To be a Christ centred and Jesus Christ shaped Church. To remember that this is God’s Church, not ours, and it was therefore, first and foremost a call for a spiritual and theological renewal of our life in Christ."

"We may therefore in the next quinquennium want to reestablish our bearings, pointing more clearly to the true north of our life in Christ lived out in and for the communities we serve with greater clarity about the place of the parish within the ecosystem of the Church."

"These are not things we do instead of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dear friends, they are the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the one who always seeks out the lost. Welcomes home the sinner. Puts little children first. Reserves his fiercest judgement for those who would presume to judge others. Who is always merciful and kind to those who have got it wrong. Come to him all you who are weary and overburdened. You will find rest for your soul."

Followed by a very brief speech from an ecumenical guest from the Roman Catholic Church in Beligium, the Most Revd Luc Terlinden, who continued in a similar theme:

"If we can call each other brothers and sisters as my personal bishop's motto runs, 'fratelli tutti' then this means that we all have the same father, that we all are called by the same Jesus Christ to give testimony of our faith and that we all are, blessed with the

grace of the power of the same Holy Spirit. May God bless us all as brothers and sisters of each other at the service of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen. Thank you."

Business Report - Questions were asked about the following mattters:

Samuel Wilson asked the committee to "review the guidance and the policies that we have regarding fringe meetings, so there is no confusion about the proper process that lies behind the drama of the last couple of weeks."
Peter Brunivels raised the need, "to re-sign the armed forces covenant," for the CNC to, "consider, when appropriate, a reserve candidate," and to consider how those who join synod online "dominate the chamber."
Rachel Webbley used it to challenge why a "white privileged male academics paper" had been annexed to the papers for the discussion around National Unity.
John Briden complained about the "avalanche" of synod papers.
Emma Roberts complained about "an agenda padded with displacement items when a vital topic, the well-being of our clergy, has been pushed into contingency business."
Christian Selvaratnam asked for the way 'Questions' are dealt with to be changed because, "Those who table questions often feel that the reply has not addressed the point they're asking," and others describe it as "bishop-baiting".
Roy Faulkner challed the lack of inclusion of a debate about the redistribution of funds, which he said had been, "dealt with at the July 2025 synod in a manner which was disrespectful and insulting to many of us on synod."

Debate about Affirming neurodiversity in the life of the Church

Fiona MacMillan, who has herself been disgnosed with Autism, Tourettes and ADHD, said her, "motion calls for a church where all kinds of minds can flourish." The debate allowed lay people, clergy and the Archbishop of Canterbury to speak of their own neurodivergency and the challenges and blessings it brings. Others spoke of the way they were making changes in their parishes to support neurodiversity.

For example:

"And for me, it was my autism diagnosis four years ago which finally allowed me to start being who I am and to stop hiding so much of me. I've begun to re recognize that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and it is all of me that God has called into ministry and indeed my whole life." Revd Alice Kemp

"We have an email that goes out with our service um order service on it every week. So those who have dementia or parents of neurodivergent children can show their children in advance what's coming up that week. We made movement cushions where we glued half tennis balls onto bits of wood so kids with wriggly bottoms can move around on their seats. We used dyslexic friendly colored sheet plastic overlays in our Bible readings. We print on dyslexic friendly colored paper. We have photos of the children's group leaders on the wall as children come in, so they know who's leading their groups this week so they're less frightened to to be of the unknown. We have fidget bags with a range of fidgets for people to use during the services.

In my church I tend to lead and preach every week. Uh and the most difficult part of service for me is actually like Vivian mentioned the prayers where when I'm kneeling down for someone else doing something my mind wanders I get distracted. I don't fall asleep but I'm very close to it. Having a bit of Blu-Tack in my hand really helps me to focus and to fidgets during that moment of service. One lady at St. Luke's has written this. "I've enjoyed being part of St.Luke's church because no one cares if I take my shoes off, I wander around mid-service or do puzzles to concentrate during the sermon." Revd Aneal Appadoo

Questions - a few quotes

Q1-3 Clergy Discipline Commission

Following the Makin Review, 10 applications to bring disciplinary proceedings against named clergy were made and 7 were granted permission. A bishop decided to take no further action in one case and in another two it was determined there was "no case to answer". "The remaining 4 individuals are awaiting trials, which will be later this month."

Q4-12 Crown Nominations Commission

There are an "unprecedented numbers of vacancies coming up" but speeding up the process might have "unintended consequences."

It is still possible for CNC to vote for a 'reserve candidate' "but it is not possible in every circumstance to get a reserve candidate.

Jeremy Moody asked, "Given that a number of bishops have made clear that they do not believe the doctrine of the church, as expressed in Canon B30, either by publicly stating that this doctrine needs to change or by stating that they believe sexual intimacy in relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman that are permanent, faithful and stable is something to be celebrated. What further steps will be taken to ensure that CNC members are reminded of this lack of belief in the doctrine of the church during the appointments process?"

In the light of this letter, and others, the Archbishop of York gave a somewhat surprising answer:

"Um, so so let let me simply reaffirm all all bishops are expected to uphold the doctrine of the Church of England in its entirety. Um and uh and that is made clear at every bishop's ordination. Um and the CNC um that is what that is what we expect of bishops and that is what the CNC um, um expects of the people that we're interviewing."

Q13-18 Faith and Order Commission

There were a number of questions which appear to have been asked in order to clarify matters before the King motion is debated on Monday. In relation to the words 'intimate' and 'same-sex relationship', FAOC affirmed that they, "have not found it necessary to provide a more technical definition to the phrase than offered by its common usage."

Q19-23 Liturgical Commission

All these questions referred to the Prayer for the FIFA World Cup. The Bishop of Lichfield speaking on behalf of the Liturgical Commission said it was "not an output of the liturgical commission"

Q24-65 Church Commissioners

The first set of questions related to Project Spire, or the 'Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice' which is a fund of £100m to address the Church's role in transatlantic slavery. It is a highly contested area and answers to the questions were either unconvincing or appeared to avoid further questioning.

Further questions were asked about investments in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry and other environmental initiatives, the number of churches closed and opened, bishops costs and Net Zero.

There were also questions for the Pensions Board, and the Ethical Investment Advisory Group.

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