Over the past few years, as the Roman Catholic Church prepared for the Synod on Synodality now taking place, we Anglicans have been invited to reflect in a variety of public forums on the nature of synodality. It has been a curious moment to step back, consider, and reflect on a way of being church that Anglicans take for granted in our life and governance. The gift of these invitations has been the opportunity to be self-reflective and to hear the views of others with synodal processes in their ecclesial life, especially as critique of our own synodical processes in the midst of deep and difficult issues has grown louder in recent years. This brief article offers my musings about synodality, the process and results, as an Anglican bishop and a member of Anglican–Roman Catholic dialogue for many years.
To gather in synod is to “walk together” (syn-hodos) to discern God’s will in the life of a church community. Anglicans in Canada have gathered in synods at local diocesan, regional, provincial, and national levels since the late 19th century. Bishops, clergy, and laity bring the voice of their particular perspectives to bear on the issues at hand, from governance to current theological, liturgical, and ecclesial issues. An ideal expression of a gathered synod brings together the whole church, in prayer and worship, in discussion and discernment, to consider the needs of the church for its own life and governance and the work of the church as God’s people in the world in light of current events and experiences. It seeks the wisdom of the Holy Spirit through the voices of each part of the body of Christ present in the synodal process. It is marked by deep listening, generous collaboration, and wise discernment.
It is, however, rare that our gathered synods live up to this ideal. The necessary formation and preparation for discernment for all orders — lay, clergy, and bishops — may be lacking. The exigencies of current costs of gathering in person, constrained meeting times, and complexities of discernment mitigate against the needed space and time to discern well with large groups. Human egos and personal needs interfere with best practices. Communal and political agendas can be unhelpfully intertwined with the theological reflection needed. Synods can be fractious and unruly even as they can, with God’s help, be glorious examples of God at work in and through us.
Any large gathering of people requires rules of order to assist the process of discernment. Those rules are codified in constitutions, canons, and bylaws and bear the marks of the social and cultural context in which they were created. They are written to serve the needs of the synod. However, they may also constrain the organic nature of discussion. In any synod there is a tension between the rules of order developed to govern orderly processes and the time and space needed to hear the diversity of voices in a synod gathering, especially when cultural and linguistic differences are present. Synods have carefully constructed rules for speakers, including time limits and ways in which resolutions may be presented and/or amended. As a self-governing Indigenous Church, the Sacred Circle, has emerged within the Anglican Church of Canada, there have been tensions when the voice of Indigenous elders must be given priority and not silenced by a time constraint or when members struggle to express themselves in a second or third language as simultaneous translation into multiple languages has not been possible. The constitution and rules of order are necessary as the framework to give stability and shape to the ways we seek to discern together, yet they can become barriers to full participation or weapons for those who know how to use them to their advantage.
So what do we see as we walk alongside the Synod on Synodality? How might it help us reflect on our own synodal life to inform us for the future? How might we walk with our siblings in Christ and receive insights from their experience?
As a member of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III), I have found it instructive to hear and explore Roman Catholic synodal gatherings — universal and regional — and to consider them alongside our own in the process of receptive ecumenism. The calling of recent synods by Pope Francis is an invitation to ask questions about our assumptions and expectations as we listened as companions on their journey. Anglicans can be dismissive about gathered synods that only include bishops as full members, holding our inclusion of laity and clergy (and men and women) as an essential feature of synodal governance. Yet the breadth and depth of consultations and preparations as part of the synodal processes such as the Synod on the Family (2015), and the current synod, offer instructive models of broad input to the discernment process. The invitation to every parish, diocese, and region of the Church to engage and offer feedback widens the discernment process far beyond the representational delegate models of our gatherings. We watched with interest as the current synod invited laity, including women, to participate as full members, though it was still primarily an episcopal synod. We look forward to hearing more about how the non-episcopal voices were heard and considered.
The current synod began with widespread consultation through every level of the church. Although I occasionally heard expressions of cynicism on whether their voices would truly be heard in Rome, I also heard excitement from others at the possibilities of engaging with the process. Inviting discussions, papers, and consultations to give feedback before an in-person gathering for discernment is also increasingly practiced in Anglican circles, especially as digital communication techniques assist such consultations across geographic diversity or isolation. During the pandemic, the Anglican Church of Canada church spent time in an extensive listening process (on Zoom) towards the development of strategic aspirations to guide planning at the national level. Given the costs and time constraints of in-person gathered synods, this widespread, organic synodal process engages the fullness of the body of Christ. Taking the time to allow for this fulsome consultation is important as we discern complex issues and need to hear the voices of the communities involved and affected.
As I read the summary report of the Synod on Synodality, I felt as though I was reading a description of the Anglican Church of Canada and its relationships in the Anglican Communion. So many of the concerns, convergences, and recommendations echo our current experience. The description of synodality as involving “reciprocal listening, dialogue, community discernment, and creation of consensus as an expression that renders Christ present in the Holy Spirit, each taking decisions in accordance with their responsibilities” (Part 1.1.h) is an aspiration as our Communion struggles to articulate ways of living together in differences with consensus and respect. It describes recent Lambeth Conferences in which bishops listened, discussed, and then discerned how to enact in their context.
I noted this passage: “In particular, the many expressions of synodal life in cultural contexts where people are used to walking together as a community and where individualism has not taken root, should be considered for deeper reflection” (Part 1.1.l). Here is an echo of our experience in Canada of walking with Indigenous Anglicans whose commitment to communal discernment places the voices of elders and community in highest regard. Further comment on the needs of Indigenous peoples is also part of our ongoing journey,
In some places, the proclamation of the Gospel was associated with colonization, even genocide. Evangelising in these contexts requires acknowledging mistakes made, learning a new sensitivity to these issues, and accompanying a generation seeking to forge Christian identities beyond colonialism. Respect and humility are fundamental attitudes needed to recognise that we complement each other and that encounters with different cultures can enrich the living and thinking of the faith of Christian communities. (Part 1.5.e)
The Anglican Church of Canada is on that journey of respect with profound humility as we address colonialism and the legacy of Indigenous residential schools, both part of our strategic commitments going forward. We are committed to decolonization and to addressing the legacy of racism that continues to be seen and felt in both church and society. These were themes raised at the Lambeth Conference 2022 by the Archbishop of Canterbury as well.
The practice of “conversations in the Spirit” that characterized the gathering in October reflect the yearning of our own synods for processes that center us in Christ first.
Placing Jesus at the centre of our lives requires some degree of self-emptying. In this perspective, providing a listening ear means being willing to “decentre” oneself in order to leave space for the other. We have experienced this in the dynamic of conversations in the Spirit. It is a demanding ascetical exercise that obliges each person to recognize his or her own limitations and the partiality of his or her point of view. (Part III.16.c)
This requires practices in our synodal processes that nurture such centering. In the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada in June 2023, we invited a practice associated with Indigenous Gospel-Based Discipleship. At any point in the proceedings, for any reason, a member could rise and request that the gospel for the day be read aloud again. All proceedings stop. The gospel of the day is read aloud, followed by a time of silence. Then the proceedings resume, often with a markedly different tone to the discussion or debate as we have re-centered on Jesus. It was a humbling reminder to live into who we are in Christ and ensure that our processes of discernment reflect that identity.
Many other sections of the summary are like looking in a mirror as both our communions wrestle with topics such as formation for ministry — lay and ordained; clericalism that undermines the ministry of all the baptized; challenges of episcopal ministry caught between administration and legal responsibilities alongside the call to teach, preach, and pastorally lead a diocese in collegiality with other bishops; affirming the gifts and charisms of all people for the sake of the gospel in the world and in the church; and theological and ecclesial clarity needed for the office of deacon in its permanent and transitional expressions. These and other common areas will provide opportunities for receptive ecumenism to be practiced as we each seek faithful paths in them.
I read with interest the strengthening of the call to recognize the leadership and pastoral gifts of women in the church, though our expression of that has taken different forms.
One of the areas of current discussion in the Anglican Church of Canada is the way in which a final discernment is reached. We have a unicameral discernment process with differentiated levels of voting required for canonical changes or resolutions, depending on their import. For canonical changes, a two-thirds majority of each of the three houses (bishops, clergy, laity) is required. For other resolutions, simple majorities of all, voting together, are required. Given the differing sizes of the orders (the order of bishops is about one-third the size of laity and clergy), does this give disproportionate value to the voice of bishops? Do bishops have an inherently greater responsibility than laity and clergy by education and ordination? If so, in all areas, or limited to doctrinal considerations? If not — what ways of voting are commended? How would a consensus model of decision-making function in a large synod gathering? How is consensus best considered? These are questions emerging as we live into the calling of the whole people of God walking together, discerning God’s will in our own time and context. A newly formed Primate’s Commission in Canada is considering our governance and structures for the future. It will be instructive for the commission to examine the Synod on Synodality for the ways in which proposals were discerned and will be enacted, especially as the final gathered synod takes place in October 2024.
Throughout the summary there is an attitude of servanthood for the good of the whole church and the care of all God has created — humanity, especially the poor and marginalized — and creation. Institutional hierarchy or privilege is only for the service of others and not for self or for the church. A winsome portrait is offered in the report of a church that is centered in the Trinity and draws on the gifts and responsibilities of all its people to listen deeply, seek convergences, and discern next steps. It is a church that serves for the sake of the gospel in the name of Jesus Christ and in partnership with others of faith. Though Anglicans may place emphasis differently in parts of that portrait, we share the same calling to service by the whole people of God through our baptism. The work of the Synod on Synodality will continue to be a mirror to help Anglicans reflect on our own synodal life and provide areas for deepening our conversations on shared ministry challenges as we also seek the unity we are called to in Christ.
The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls is Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. She has served on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission III since its inception in 2011 and previously as Co-Chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic Dialogue in Canada.
