Lichfield Diocesan Synod Saturday 14th March 2020 at 9:30am at The Beacon Conference Centre, Stafford

1. Welcome and Opening Prayers The prayers were led by Bishop Sarah, of Shrewsbury. This was her first Diocesan Synod meeting with the Lichfield Diocese.

2. Notices and Apologies and Minutes of the Previous Meeting During Notices, Zoe Hemming (her title included Enabler – from Lichfield) mentioned that as our churches approach their APCM we are encouraged to look around to see who would be a good candidate to stand as our Deanery Synod representative. By becoming part of the House of Laity your representative could have great influence at General Synod and for the whole of the .

3. Presidential Address The Presidential Address was given by Bishop Michael. He prayed long and hard that, despite the Corona virus Covid 19, Synod should go ahead. He waited until the Government’s COBRA meeting and recognised that is is our duty as responsible citizens to follow advice. Specific advice has been given by the Church of England nationally: at the celebration of Holy Communion there will only be the provision of the bread; the priest will be the only person to drink from the cup. Advice was also given to avoid the sharing of the Peace and blessing and other liturgical contact. He said that Jesus is with us in our worship and the presence of Christ always accompanies us on our journey. He went on to say that churches have a really important role to play in our communities and a witness to make especially with the most vulnerable, the elderly, those with underlying medical needs, mental health issues, food poverty and depravation and those who are self isolating. We can take inspiration from the villagers of Eyam in Derbyshire who, during the time of the Plague, took the selfless decision to self-isolate for over a year. The cost of human lives was heavy but their efforts were successful in containing the disease. In a similar way, churches are called to sustain their community, strengthen their will and call for unity when faced with forces that can pull it apart. At Eyam, the Christian message of faith, hope and love, helped them to stay together rather than divide and scatter. As then, so now. Our churches are at the heart of our communities. If we are to provide that example of healing unity we need to work hard at our disagreements. The difficult conversations that the Church of England must have will test to the full, Christian bonds of love that hold us together.

4. Diocesan Environmental Policy – review of progress to date Steve Hollinghurst was welcomed and congratulated on his appointment as our new Evangelism Enabler with an environmental focus, Steve being the replacement for George Fisher. He reported that it was encouraging to see, over the last 12 months, how many different ways, across the Diocese, people have responded to the call to become involved with environmental issues. These included: *Last March, Diocesan Synod requested all deaneries to recommend to their parishes that they register for Eco Church. To date, in 26 deaneries 73 churches have registered. Of these, 13 have already gained their Bronze award and one, St Albans in Wednesfield, has achieved their Silver award. Deanery synod members are encouraged to take the message back to parishes to encourage them to not only register but take the audit to gain their Bronze award. *Climate Action Day in September saw over 600 people gathered in , including over 500 children from at least 6 different schools. *The 2019 Selwyn Lecture presented the strong scriptural basis for environmental concern, laying a foundation for our Lent book on creation care by Ruth Valerio entitled ‘Saying Yes to Life’ and endorsed by Bishop Michael and Archbishop Justin. Many churches are using it as a lent course. *In February, the General Synod committed the Church of England to be carbon-neutral by 2030. * A two-sided sheet of A4 was given out to help with ideas for Eco-pledges. Questions at the end included a request for car charging points to be installed at each vicarage.

5. Update on Setting God’s People Free (Everyday Faith) SGPF is an initiative across the Church of England to enable all of God’s people to live out the Good News of Jesus confidently in all of life, from Sunday to Saturday. A progress report was given by , which included details of conferences attended in Birmingham and Shropshire. The main project has been the creation of a Milestone Tool which gives parishes a visual way of assessing where they are up to now with developing Everyday Faith and allows them to plan for the future and monitor progress as part of their Mission Action Planning. Each table took part in the activity of deciding where our parish would place each of the milestones: either as ‘Established, Emerging or Desirable’. The list of Milestones included:

You are encouraged to talk to Lichfield if you want them to come and do this activity with your parish.

6. Annual report of the Officers There then followed a light-hearted role-play from members of the Central Administration Support Teams and Discipleship, Vocations and Evangelism Teams. It highlighted some of the many different services offered by them and although amusing, the message is that our parish share pays for their work and we are encouraged to make full use of the services that they offer.

7. Our Cathedral The presentation was given by The of Lichfield Cathedral, the Very Rev . He started with many statistics:

He went on to explained the key roles of the Cathedral including: 1. It is the seat of the Bishop and a centre of worship, commissioning and mission. 2. Being an Icon – a ‘thin’ place where the love and glory of God shines through. 3. A place of tradition – a continuity of history and faithful transmission of the Gospel. 4. A place for the community with its values of healing, holiness, hospitality and hope. 5. Borderline including a place to come and express what wells up in the human heart and to express, shape and lift life to God. A creative space to do something beautiful and expressive, a space that breathes the message of Emmanuel God with us, and a place that makes no sense without God.

8. BMO Representation We were asked to pray for the Bishop’s Mission Orders and Deanery Synod Representation for the Telford Minster Church. Both houses voted overwhelmingly for representation of the Minster on the Telford Deanery Synod.

9. Question Time • A question was raised by Mr John Wardle from Wrockwardine and the answer was given to his satisfaction. • Julie Jones confirmed that the question raised previously from Oswestry Deanery concerning training would be addressed at the June Synod meeting. • It was also confirmed that there will be an item on the agenda for the June Synod meeting about Clergy Wellbeing and Bishop Clive will be addressing this, in light of the Sheldon report.

10. General Synod report The report has been included and can be read in detail if you wish. The main points were: • The Draft Cathedrals Measure went through its revision stage. • Deanery Synod term limits of Lay people on Deanery Synod was the largest consultation that they had ever had. • Voting electronically via email – more will be coming out about how this will be carried out. • Private Member’s Motions included three very important motions: The Windrush Anniversary; Pauper’s Funerals – a well-discussed and emotive topic; and Legal Aid Reform.

11. Final Prayers were offered by Bishop Michael.