General Synod Report for Diocesan Synod Introduction - Lucy Our February group of sessions took place between the 13th – 16th Feb down at Church House in London. Nick (Land) and I both made our maiden speeches successfully without being given the dreaded bell and Linda continued to perfect her chairing skills and even successfully pulled off some humour! No mean feat while sat in the chair! You’ll know from news coverage there was a certain hotly anticipated debate scheduled for the Wednesday but Linda and I will attempt to give you a BBC style, non-biased report of the main events over the course of the week. Anniversary of the Reformation – Linda The Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England with support of the Council of Christian Unity presented this motion in the context of the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the European Reformation and the Church of England’s understanding of the doctrine of justification as expressed in our historic formularies. Archbishop of Canterbury Presidential Address – Linda He stated that we are a cross-shaped people and the time has come to re-imagine our future in light of all the uncertainty of our time. The future offers many opportunities to which we should rise when we find in the country a skills gap, failing NHS and Social Care, and high greenhouse gas emission. The Church could be part of the answer, as we have a deep strong reach into the community recognising as a Church we are also guilty of abuse and we must not resist addressing these appalling matters. Public life is deeply divided, our response is to bring together the nation – it is tough and long-term, there is no short cut. (Read the full address on the CofE website) Legislative Business – Linda Tuesday, 14 February was given over to the many items of legislative business which included Church Representation, Ecumenical Relations and Ministers Measure, Mission and Pastoral (Amendment) Measure, Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure, Safeguarding (Clergy Risk Assessment) Regulations 2016. There was a point of order raised to adjourn the Safeguarding debate but Synod voted against such a move. However, the main motion was carried after a vote by Houses. Creation of a Suffragan See for the Diocese of Leicester – Lucy The Bishop of Leicester presented a proposal to create a suffragan position at Loughborough following the retirement of the current assistant Bishop Christopher Boyle. Synod voted unanimously to proceed and over the next few months we’ll see that advertised and eventually appointed. Fixed Odds Betting Terminals – Lucy Fixed Odds betting terminals are the electronic, roulette/gambling machines you often see in pubs. The nature of them and in a way how they are different from the average fruit machine is the amount of money one can spend in a short period of time. The debate itself wasn’t about what individual Christians feel about gambling, but more the concern for those who are addicted and may easily become so. Many members of Synod spoke in this debate raising concerns for their communities where families suffer considerable financial hardship because of the impact of fixed odds betting terminals. The motion was carried by a vote of the whole Synod to call upon the government to reduce the maximum amount that can be wagered in a single game. Preliminaries to Marriage – Lucy Here draft legislation was presented to replace ecclesiastical preliminaries to marriage with civil preliminaries where banns would be replaced by a Marriage Schedule issued by the civil registrar. The debate steered heavily towards keeping the tradition of banns because it was felt the reading of banns brought many couples, their families and friends into church and more importantly into the Church family before their wedding. On the flip side it was highlighted that if we were to go ahead with the change then prayers of dedication could still be said, and couples still invited to Church – the question to be seemed to be, would couples still come along? Is there actually something really special to a couple to hear their banns read in Church prior to their wedding? After a lengthy debate, and quite an interesting one, the motion was lost in all three houses, so the status quo remains. Introduction to the work of the Bishops’ Reflection Group on Human Sexuality – Lucy On Wednesday afternoon we moved onto a rather small, quick and insignificant debate around sexuality and the Bishops report. The Bishop of Norwich and the Bishop of Willesden introduced this item outlining how the afternoon group work will be conducted. Members reconvened into the groups they were in back in July for the Shared Conversations, however there was some dis-ease and lack of confidence in the case studies being discussed amongst other issues which lead to around 60 members of Synod removing themselves, myself included, temporarily from the group work and meeting separately together, we were later joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury for a short period of time to discuss those issues. I can’t comment first hand, however Linda tells me each group with its designated Bishop explained the process that the House of Bishops had been engaged in over the autumn. Members of Synod were free to discuss and debate the matter. This then led to the take note debate later in the afternoon. There were 170 requests to speak. And the chair did an incredibly good job of overseeing the debate and making sure a wide selection of voices were heard. After another lengthy and intense debate the motion was lost after a counted voted by Houses. On a personal note, although all of this is very close to my heart, and although I’m new to Synod, I think other members would agree that it felt a privilege to be part of that debate, that debate was Synod at its best. We listened to each other, and treated each other with respect whatever our differences. I really hope that after the encouraging letter from the two Archbishops and the meetings between General Synod members and their Bishops we can carry on along the path towards radical inclusion for all. Address by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion – Linda The Presidents invited the Most Revd Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon to address the Synod. The Archbishop stressed that the Church of England has a duty to Anglicans overseas as well as those in the UK. “Setting God’s People Free” – Linda Synod debated a motion from the Archbishops’ Council commending the report from the Lay Leadership Task Group – set up as part of the Renewal and Reform initiative. The report focussed on ways of responding to the challenges facing us today and how essential lay leadership has become to church, community, workplace and the wider community. There was considerable interest in this debate, most contributors supported taking this significant piece of work forward; the motion was carried unanimously. Farewells – (1) The Archbishop of Canterbury gave a farewell address to the First Church Estates Commissioner. Sir Andreas Whittam Smith will retire after a long and significant contribution to the life of the Church of England. Sir Andreas will leave the position at the next AGM of the Church Commissioners scheduled for June 2017. He was knighted for his services to the Church in 2015. The role of First Church Estates Commissioner involves overseeing the management of the Church of England's £7 billion investment portfolio. Her Majesty The Queen will have to approve the next person to take the job. In his response, Sir Andreas said: "After fifteen years service I think it appropriate and sensible to look towards an orderly handover to a successor."I am proud to be leaving the Church Commissioners at a time when we continue to enjoy robust and sustainable growth, while contributing in a substantial and meaningful way to the ongoing operation of the Church and its ministry." (2) The Archbishop of York gave a farewell address to the Bishop of London who sat in the gallery with his wife. The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres is the 132nd Bishop of London. He served as Archbishop's Chaplain in the 1980s before moving to London Diocese as a parish priest. After his move to the See of London, he was appointed Dean of HM Chapels Royal in 1996 and a Privy Counsellor. His last public engagement after 20 years was Candlemas at St Paul's Cathedral on 2 February 2017. Throughout the four days of Synod there were many opportunities to worship together both in the Chapel and in the Assembly hall. A collection in aid of the work of the Mothers’ Union was made at the Eucharist on Wednesday. .