Thinking Anglicans

General Synod – Friday's business

Updated Saturday morning

Order paper 1 – details of the day’s agenda

The main business of the day was a debate on After the General Election, a still small voice of calm.

The Archbishop of York moved this motion:

That this Synod, mindful that the recent General Election has left many questions unanswered about the shape and priorities of our government at a critical time in the nation’s history:
(a) give thanks, nonetheless, for the increased turnout and call upon all parties to build on this by addressing the causes of voter apathy and non-participation;
(b) pray for all those elected to Parliament that they will prioritise the common good of all people in everything they do, especially in negotiations between parties to secure support for a legislative programme;
(c) pray for courage, for our political leaders as they face the constraints and opportunities of uncertainty and weakness, and for the people of the nation as they too face unprecedented questions about the future;
(d) call upon Christians everywhere to maintain pressure on politicians of all parties to put the cohesion of the nation and its communities at the heart of their programmes;
(e) commend the continuing work of the churches serving the poor and vulnerable, at home and worldwide, as an example of the priorities which we hope to see in the programmes of government; and
(f) commit the Church of England to maintaining strong and generous international relations, through our dioceses, the Anglican Communion and ecumenical links, as relationships within the United Kingdom, across Europe and worldwide face new tensions and challenges.

Text of the Archbishop’s speech proposing the motion

Six amendments to the motion were proposed, all of which were comprehensively defeated. But they took up a lot of time, which would have been better devoted to the main motion.

At the end of the debate the substantive motion was overwhelmingly carried.

Official press release on the debate: Synod calls for values-based politics based on the common good

Church Times report by Madeleine Davies, Hattie Williams and Gavin Drake: We don’t ‘own’ our money, says Dr Sentamu

Stephen Lynas is a Synod member who offers his own view of the day’s business: bathwellschap There’s something in the air

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T Pott
T Pott
6 years ago

Part a) of the motion “give thanks, nonetheless, for” – has the Synod just passed a somewhat grudging vote of thanks to God?

Will this approach enter the liturgy. Dearly beloved, I propose a vote of thanks to Almighty God for His inestimable blessings in … followed by a show of hands?

Jeremy
Jeremy
6 years ago

What a wet-noodle motion. Why waste 2 hours of Synod’s time on it? It’s pap.

Was this entire exercise designed to give the Archbishop of York some time in a favorable spotlight?

Is that fair to the rest of Synod?

Helen King
Helen King
6 years ago

I so agree, Jeremy. Once again the CofE tries to show it has its finger on the button, and fails miserably. All those words, and so little content, and nobody outside the Synod chamber cares.

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