General Synod Voting List
The voting lists from General Synod are now out and you can see how bishops and clergy and lay representatives from your diocese voted. Note that this was the vote on the amendment from the Bishop of Sheffield which kicked the question into the long grass – you can read the Church Times’ report on the debate here. Many of your representatives may justify their vote as wanting the conversation to develop, which is worth noting for when this question emerges from the long grass and we, once again, come to vote on some form of proposal to direct the Church Commissioners’ money back to its original purpose. Others, of course, will simply prefer the current system. This is quite a good summary of the whole question of finance from a commentator who has not been uncritical of our objectives in the past.
One really important thing: do thank the bishops who voted to keep the original motion. They took quite a risk publicly standing up against the Centre, and it is both good manners and good tactics to thank them profoundly for having the courage to do this.
There have also been two very good pieces put out this week. The first, by Adam Spiers, reacts to the claim made in the debate that no-strings-attached subsidy “would encourage torpor and disincentivise missional imagination.” Adam says,
“Restricted funds do not facilitate creativity. Creativity stems from the necessity found within the communities in which these churches labour, not in the fact that the churches themselves cannot afford to heat the building or pay enough staff. Churches are just as creative when properly resourced, and can do a lot more with those resources than richer churches ever could.”
You can read the full article here.
Also out this week is an excellent video from the Bishop of Hereford, who introduced the motion which stood in his name. He reflects incredibly well (in my opinion) on the impact on morale both of the lack of money for ordinary parish ministry and of the language used of “subsidising failure.” It’s well worth watching!
Please don’t forget to think hard about whether you can stand at the next General Synod elections (in the summer of 2026). You need to be either on the electoral roll of your parish or a beneficed or licensed priest or one with PTO in your diocese. Next time round we will want to a good number of people standing under the STP umbrella committing to vote for the kind of essential change that will restore the local to the heart of the church.
