As a heatwave gripped England, the church’s General Synod gathered in the air-conditioned central hall of York University, where emotional temperatures were similarly well-regulated.
Perhaps this was because Living in Love and Faith, which has dominated so many recent sessions, was not up for debate. Instead members faced a packed agenda, which required them to pivot from internal matters of finance, governance structures, and clergy pensions to the headline matters of life and death: the war in Gaza and the recently approved Assisted Dying Bill.
War in Ukraine and Gaza
The first guest speaker to address synod was Brigadier Jaish Mahan, deputy commander of the First U.K. Division in York. His command is in NATO’s High Readiness Forces, prepared to deploy troops at a moment’s notice.
“We find ourselves with a land war in Europe that we thought would never happen again,†Mahan said, speaking of the war in Ukraine. He told members that the Russians have generated more munitions in the last year than all the NATO countries put together. He also spoke of his visits to countries bordering Russia that are re-arming and actively preparing their citizens for the possibility of war.
The U.K. government’s recent Strategic Defence Review stressed the need for a “whole society approach†to the threat of further conflict. The church has a vital role to play in such an approach, Mahan said. He welcomed the proposal (later decision) of Synod to simplify the licensing arrangements for Armed Forces chaplains, “truly exceptional†people, he said, who are part of the fabric of the military family.
A motion grin the Diocese of Carlisle to discuss another of the world’s war zones, Gaza, didn’t make it onto the agenda. The Archdeacon of West Cumbria, the Ven. Stewart Fyfe, told The Living Church he thought the business committee may have wanted to avoid controversy.
“Silence is also controversial. Silence also picks a side. We have to speak—not because we can change the course of the war but because we must act and speak as Jesus would,†Fyfe said.
Synod heard from the Archbishop in Jerusalem, the Most Rev. Hosam Naoum, whose diocese stretches across Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Naoum described how Christians in the Holy Land were suffering violence from settlers in the West Bank, including in Taybeh, the only Palestinian village with a Christian majority.
In Jerusalem, he said, Christian holy places are being vandalized and attacks on Christian clergy are on the increase. In Gaza, the church’s “arms of ministry,†its schools and hospitals, are under attack from Israeli forces, he said.
“The food distribution system is horrifying. Three sites open for an hour a day for 2 million people. It looks to me like the Hunger Games,†Naoum said.
He called for the restoration of humanitarian supplies under U.N. supervision, the release of all hostages and captives, and a permanent ceasefire: “Until this is achieved, every other part of our lives and ministries is covered in the shroud of death.â€
Support for Abuse Survivors
Final approval was given by the Synod to a redress scheme designed to support victims and survivors of abuse within the Church of England. The Redress Scheme Project Board began its work four years ago in the wake of an Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that said the church had often prioritized its reputation over the safety of children.
“It should never have been necessary to do this work in the first place,†said Bishop Philip Mounstephen of Winchester, chairman of the board.
“It is a source of shame to us that it was ever so needed. This legislation is vital … it will make a real difference to people’s lives, offering not just financial redress but heartfelt apology, acknowledgment and care, treating survivors with the fairness, compassion, and dignity they deserve,†he added.
The administration of the redress scheme will be independent of bishops and church officials. Church Commissioners have set aside £150 million for the scheme, but they say there is no upper limit on the amount that may be paid out.
Jane Chevous, a member of the survivors working group that advised the project board, told The Living Church that she felt a huge sense of relief. “Survivors have fought hard and waited long for this, which I hope will bring a measure of justice and healing to many.
“The measure is just the start; the hard work continues to ensure all claims are dealt with fairly, in a timely and trauma-responsive way, and dioceses are ready to respond to survivors seeking non-financial redress.â€
As all legislation passed by General Synod also has to be approved by Parliament, it may take a few months before the scheme officially opens for applications.
Retiring Issues in Human Sexuality
There was more than an undercurrent of “them and us†when Synod discussed the means of distributing finances from the central church authorities to dioceses and parishes. And there was some Living in Love and Faith shadowboxing during a debate on a motion by Dr. Ros Clarke of the Diocese of Lichfield that requested an independent culture and governance review of the House of Bishops. A review will take place, but not quite along the lines Clarke sought.
Still, the overall mood of this Synod was relaxed, even at times celebratory. Indeed, it took on the flavor of a revival meeting on Sunday as members received a report on church growth and revitalization and celebrated 10 years of the prayer and evangelism initiative Thy Kingdom Come. Enthusiasts say it has united more than a million Christians around the world in prayer during the nine days between Ascension Day and Pentecost.
Could Synod get through four days without a row? The last opportunity for fireworks lay in a private member’s motion on July 15 concerning Issues in Human Sexuality (1991).
Synod had already decided that it would be replaced in due course by the work of Living in Love and Faith. But Paul Waddell, a lay member from the Diocese of Southwark, wanted it gone right away. Specifically, he did not want it to be used as part of discerning an applicant’s suitability for ordination. The document’s language and assumptions, he said, were outdated and discredited.
In a humorous speech, Wadell successfully appealed to both progressives and conservatives, arguing that binning the document was a precise and important move that need not affect wider discussions about Living in Love and Faith. His motion asking the House of Bishops to remove any requirements relating to the text from the vocations process passed almost unanimously.
Assisted Dying
The final business of the Synod was a debate about the church’s response to the Government’s End of Life (Assisted Dying) Bill which was passed by the House of Commons on June 20 and now awaits consideration in the House of Lords, in which 26 bishops sit as Lords Spiritual.
Bishop Sarah Mullaly of London proposed a motion that reaffirmed “that every person is of immeasurable and irreducible value, and request[ed] His Majesty’s Government work to improve funding and access to desperately needed palliative care services instead of enacting a law that puts the most vulnerable at risk.â€
Bishop Mullaly, a former chief nursing officer of England, pronounced the bill unworkable and unsafe. Only a third of expenses associated with end-of-life care are funded by National Health Service.  “It is wrong to help people fund an assisted death rather than access the care they need,†she said.
The provision for assisted dying laid out in the bill is restricted to those who are terminally ill, who have less than six months to live, and who are experiencing great pain. Synod members spoke movingly of their experiences of caring for their loved ones in their old age and illnesses or while dying. Others warned of the dangers of the proposed legislation being expanded to include other groups of people, such as the depressed or disabled.
Philip Baldwin, a lay member from London, was one of a very few to oppose Mullaly’s motion. He said the legislation was close to having appropriate measures necessary to protect vulnerable people from being pressured into ending their lives. To him, “the provision of assisted dying is loving, kind, compassionate—all Christian values. People who choose it and their relatives should not be shamed by the established church.â€
Synod approved the motion 238-7, with 7 abstaining.
The Next Archbishop?
An announcement about who the next Archbishop of Canterbury will be is expected in the autumn. Who that might be was a topic, but not the topic, for late-night discussion in the university bars.
A poll of Synod members by the organization Anglican Futures came up with the usual suspects, plus a pop star or two thrown in for good measure. The bookies’ favorites are Guli Francis-Deqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, Bishop Mullaly and Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells.
In informal conversations, senior Synod members often mentioned the name of Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury.
Rosie Dawson is a freelance journalist based in Manchester, U.K., who writes and broadcasts about religious topics.
