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Agenda published for February 2005 Synod

24 January 2005

There is to be a whole morning’s debate, introduced by the Bishop of Rochester on the theological dimension of this issue. After lunch the Archbishop of Canterbury will move a motion on behalf of the House of Bishops setting out proposals for what should happen next, including a debate and vote at the July Synod to decide whether to embark on the legislative process.

The Anglican Communion

The Windsor Report from the Lambeth Commission on Communion, chaired by the Archbishop of Armagh, was published on 18 October.  The commission was set up at the request of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in October 2003 in the light of strains in the Communion arising from developments in the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada.  These concern the ordination to the episcopate of a person being in a sexual relationship with a partner of the same sex, and the blessing of committed relationships of same sex couples.  The Lambeth Commission’s brief was not to look into these underlying ethical issues but to consider the legal, theological and practical issues for the Communion arising from those actions.

The Primates will be meeting in Belfast a few days after the Synod meets, to consider the response to the Report from across the Anglican Communion.  That meeting is of great significance for the future cohesion of the Anglican Communion.

In considering the Church of England’s response, the Synod will be informed by a short report from the House of Bishops in the name of the two Archbishops covering  a  report to the House from the Chair of its Theological  Group (the Bishop of Rochester) and the Chair of the Faith and Order Advisory Group (the Bishop of Chichester).  The motion before the Synod urges the Primates to take action, in the light of the Windsor Report’s recommendations, to secure unity within the constraints of truth and charity, and to seek reconciliation within the Communion.

 

Review of Clergy Terms of Service

This Review, under the chairmanship of Professor David McClean, was set up by the Archbishops’ Council in 2002, following its response to the Department of Trade and Industry’s discussion document on Employment Status in relation to Statutory Employment Rights.  Its terms of reference were to review the terms under which the clergy hold office, to ensure a proper balance of rights and responsibilities, and to consider in this context the future of the freehold and the position of the clergy in relation to statutory employment rights.

The Review Group’s first report, on the position of clergy without the freehold or employment contracts recommended a new form of tenure for clergy, to be called common tenure. This was welcomed by Synod in February 2004. The Group’s second report, now before Synod, proposes applying common tenure to clergy with the freehold, defining incumbents’ rights in terms of employment law rather than ownership of property, providing an enhanced Human Resources function across the dioceses, and adopting a general framework for ministerial review.  Synod is asked to welcome the report, provide for a period of consultation with the dioceses and agree that the Archbishops’ Council should appoint an implementation group to follow up the recommendations in the report as a whole.

 

The Ordinal

The major item of liturgical business for the February Synod is the substantial Revision Stage for the Ordination Services for deacons, priests and bishops, which received First Consideration by the Synod in February 2004.  These will replace the ordination services in The Alternative Service Book.

 

Senior Church Appointments

This private member’s motion from Mr Anthony Archer seeks to ask the Archbishops’ Council to set up a working party to undertake a wide-ranging review of the offices of suffragan bishop, deacon, archdeacon and residentiary canon, and the law and practice regarding appointments to these offices.  In doing so, the motion proposes that the Church should adopt an integrated, consistent and transparent method of making appointments to senior ecclesiastical offices.

 

Issues in Higher Education

This debate will examine the values of higher education, suggesting it has the purpose of expanding horizons, addressing ethical and religious issues and developing potential rather than simply creating a more effective workforce and enabling the country to be more competitive internationally.  The context for the debate is last year’s Higher Education Act, the Government’s target of 50 per cent of young people going on to higher education and decisions on university funding.  The General Synod will debate higher education from a Christian perspective, on the basis of a report from the Board of Education, together with questions about the Church’s ministry and mission in higher education institutions.  It will examine specifically the Church’s provision of university chaplains.

 

Environmental issues

The environment is a topic of major public concern and has implications for personal behaviour, business and government action – both domestic and international.  The Government has stated that its priority for its presidency, later this year, of the G8 meeting, and of the European Union, will be climate change.  In 2004 the Archbishop of Canterbury made a number of significant interventions on the environmental crisis.  There is growing interest in the contribution that world faiths can bring to this issue and the debate will be an occasion to affirm that a distinctive and effective Christian contribution can be offered.  The debate that is being sponsored by the Mission and Public Affairs Council will be supported by a report Sharing God’s Planet:  A Christian Vision for a Sustainable Future. The motion will be moved by the Bishop of London as Chair of the House of Bishops Environment Panel.

 

There will also be a relatively small amount of legislative business and a few items of other business, mainly of a domestic character.  One item of wider interest is a Diocesan Synod Motion from Ely on the subject of Church of England services in Local Ecumenical Partnerships.

 

The February Synod will include a farewell to the Archbishop of York, who as Archbishop has been Joint President of the Synod since 1995.  There will also be a service of Holy Communion, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury will preside and preach.

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