THE
P RTAL
August 2016
The General
Synod of the
Church of
England
Page 11
Anglican
News
The Revd Paul Benfield brings us up to date
The General
Synod of the Church of England met at York University from Friday 8th to Tuesday
12th July. It was the first residential meeting of the Synod elected last year and was an unusual meeting
in that the normal Synodical business was crammed into one and a half days, leaving two days for Shared
Conversations on Human Sexuality.
There were various formal welcomes at the beginning
of the Friday, including the presentation of me, as a
newly elected Deputy Prolocutor for the Province of
York, to the Archbishops. This entailed me mounting
the platform and shaking hands with the Archbishop
of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury (in that
order) and leaving the platform at the other side. I
successfully completed this without falling over.
break, and because this presentation, however good or
interesting it may or may not have been, had nothing
to do with Synod which is a legislative and deliberative
body.
Saturday saw a busy morning of legislative
business, including the revision stage of the Pastoral
(Amendment) Measure and the first consideration
of the Legislative Reform Measure. Both are part of
There then followed an emergency debate called the simplification agenda and though simplification
by the archbishops on the Brexit result of the in itself is a good, it should not be done at the
referendum. Many of us were nervous of this, expense of removing the checks and balances which
fearing that it would consist of people trotting out regulate the rights and duties of various parts of the
their favourite or least favourite referendum slogans church.
and attributing blame.
I lost an amendment which would have removed
In fact it turned out to be a useful debate, not least the proposed power of a bishop to abolish the office
because of an early speech by Fr Graeme Buttery from of a vacant team vicar without going through all the
Hartlepool and a member of the Catholic Group. usual processes with a possible appeal to the Church
He explained what it was like for people living in Commissioners.
Hartlepool who had seen the steel works rust, the
chemical works contract, the call centre move to India
Later we gave first consideration to an amending
and so on.
canon which will, if eventually passed, authorise the
use of the normal funeral services for those who have
The referendum was, he said, a chance for ordinary taken their own life, and allow a relaxation of vesture in
people to show their frustration. This was a message certain circumstances. However, the amending canon
which needs to be heard not only by the political is now committed to a revision committee which may
classes but also by those at the centre of the increasingly make substantial changes to it.
corporate Church of England, many of whom, being
London-based bankers and financiers with Holy
Synod was prorogued at 10pm on Saturday evening,
Trinity Brompton tendencies, have little idea of what but Sunday morning saw us in York Minster for the
life is like in an ordinary Catholic parish.
Eucharist at which Archbishop Justin presided and
Archbishop Sentamu preached.
Later there was a presentation by the Archbishop of
York on his recent pilgrimage round his diocese. I went
We then returned to the University for two days of
for a cup of tea during this because one cannot stay Shared Conversations, about which I will have more
in the Central Hall from 2.30pm to 6.30pm without a next month.