The Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments has written to members of General Synod to confirm expected timings for the process of nominating the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Details are in a press release, which is copied below the fold.
The full membership of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) is expected to be known by mid-March. The Commission will meet three times – in May, July and September. Standard procedure is that shortlisted candidates are interviewed at the final meeting, and a decision made.
16 CommentsThe Church of England’s House of Bishops met yesterday and issued the following press release.
House of Bishops meeting – January 2025
20/01/2025
The House of Bishops met in person for its first meeting of the new year in London.
The House reviewed detailed updates from the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) working groups presented by Bishop Martyn Snow. After considered reflection on the complexity and depth of the proposed changes, it became clear that Bishops with views across the range of different perspectives agreed that it was unlikely all elements of the proposals would be sufficiently developed in time for Synod to make a decision in July.
They agreed to extend the timetable to ensure that all elements of the proposals are sufficiently developed for a decision to be taken on them as a whole. The intention is still to update General Synod in February, and bring further proposals to General Synod in July, but it is likely these will not be able to be formally put to a vote until a subsequent Synod. This will also give further time for consultations with Diocesan Synods and other networks.
The House discussed the continued actions being undertaken in response to the Makin review and the proposals on independent safeguarding and the revised Clergy Conduct Measure being brought to General Synod in February. The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London discussed the importance of increased transparency, accountability and responsibility and the opportunities offered by the different proposals being brought to Synod.
In a lengthy and detailed discussion about the challenges faced, the House acknowledged the work that still needed to be done and looked forward to meeting other Episcopal colleagues imminently to work on this this further. Bishop Sarah ended the discussion reflecting that those in the Church are a people of hope who have the appetite for the work to be done.
A recent update on the process being undertaken by the National Safeguarding Team can be found here: Update on Makin Review Methodology.
20 CommentsThe Scottish Episcopal Church has announced that Canon Dr Nicholas Bundock has been elected as the next Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway.
72 CommentsThe Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway has chosen a new Bishop. The Rev Canon Dr Nicholas John Bundock was elected yesterday (18 January) as the new Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway. He will be consecrated and take his new post later in the year. Nick becomes Bishop-elect, following the retirement of the Rt Rev Kevin Pearson who served the Diocese as Bishop for five years.
The Bishop-elect accepted the post following a vote of the Electoral Synod which took place at Holy Trinity & St Barnabas, Paisley, where he received over half of the votes in each house, with clergy and lay representatives from congregations across the Diocese voting…
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[This refers to oral questions in the House of Commons to the Second Church Estates Commissioner; the Hansard record is here, and there is a video of the session on YouTube.]
The Church of England has announced a delay in the legislation to introduce the Redress Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse. Details are in a press release which is copied below.
Redress scheme update
15/01/2025
The legislation to introduce the Redress Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse will not be laid before General Synod for final approval in February, as previously scheduled, so that final checks can be carried out to ensure its eligibility criteria are robust enough in light of the Makin report.
The Scheme infrastructure is now in place and the Scheme is ready to receive applications once legislation is complete, following an enormous amount of work by survivors and others over the last three years.
However, the Church of England is deeply committed to developing a robust and effective Redress Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse. So the Redress Project Board, which is advised by survivors, has decided to reflect further on the findings of the Makin report and to consider whether the Scheme’s eligibility criteria sufficiently recognise negligence of Church office-holders who have received a safeguarding allegation or disclosure and have not responded appropriately.
This is a serious and important question, and the Redress Project Board will consider carefully the implications of recognising this more fully through the Scheme’s eligibility criteria. This work requires very thorough analysis before the Project Board can decide whether or not it wishes to make any amendments to the current eligibility criteria and is not a guarantee that new or different policy decisions will be taken.
The Survivor Working Group will continue to play a vital role in shaping the Scheme, providing expert advice and guidance, and two Survivor Working Group representatives will continue to hold voting positions on the Project Board.
The legislation that will underpin the Scheme requires successful passage through the Church and parliamentary legislative processes before the Scheme can open to applications. The earliest that the Redress (Abuse) Measure would be laid before General Synod is July 2025.
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30 CommentsThe Ecclesiastical Committee is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created by the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919. Its role to review Church of England measures submitted to Parliament by the Legislative Committee of the General Synod, and to advise on whether or not they should be approved by Parliament. The committee has 30 members. The Lord Speaker appoints 15 members from the House of Lords, and the Speaker of the House of Commons appoints 15 MPs. Members are appointed to serve for the duration of a parliament.
The names of the members for the current parliament have recently been added to the UK Parliament website, although there is one vacancy for a member of the House of Lords. The members are listed below the fold.
The chair of the committee is Baroness Butler-Sloss. (more…)
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68 CommentsUpdate (3 February): A notice paper (NP4) issued on 3 February 2025 states that sufficient members asked for GS2372 to be debated. This debate will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 12 February. Insufficient members asked for GS2373 to be debated. This is therefore approved and will come into effect 1 March 2025.
Two revised Church of England safeguarding codes of practice have been made available this week.
They are both on the agenda for next month’s meeting of the General Synod as deemed business. This means that each will be deemed to be approved unless 25 members give notice in advance that they wish the code to be debated.
In addition to the codes themselves, the papers explain why the codes are required, what has changed, and give details of the consultation process.
If approved, these Codes will go live on the 1 September 2025 (Managing Allegations) and 1 March 2025 (Religious Communities).
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78 CommentsPress release from the Prime Minister’s Office
Appointment of Chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury: 16 December 2024
The Prime Minister has appointed The Lord Evans of Weardale KCB DL to be the Chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP
Published 16 December 2024
The Prime Minister has appointed The Lord Evans of Weardale KCB DL to be the Chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury. The Crown Nominations Commission is the Church of England committee that nominates the candidate to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury to succeed the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby. Archbishop Welby has announced that he will complete his duties on 6th January 2025.
Notes for Editors
Jonathan Evans has been a Crossbench member of the House of Lords since 2014. Until October 2023 he was Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. He is currently Chair of the HALO Trust, the anti-landmine charity, and of the Public Interest Committee at KPMG UK. He is a former Director-General of the Security Service, MI5. He is an active and communicant member of his local parish church.
The Church of England’s standing orders state that the Chair of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury is appointed by the Prime Minister and must be an actual communicant lay [i.e. not ordained] member of the Church of England.
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Press release from 10 Downing Street. Further information from the Birmingham and Guildford diocesan websites.
216 CommentsThe King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Esther Tamisa Prior, Vicar of St John the Baptist Egham and Honorary Canon at Guildford Cathedral, for appointment as Suffragan Bishop of Aston in the Diocese of Birmingham.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 12 December 2024The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Esther Tamisa Prior, Vicar of St John the Baptist Egham and Honorary Canon at Guildford Cathedral, for appointment as Suffragan Bishop of Aston in the Diocese of Birmingham, in succession to The Right Reverend Anne Hollinghurst following her resignation and appointment as Principal of the Queens Foundation.
Background
Esther was educated at the University of Zimbabwe and trained for ministry at Trinity College, Bristol. She was ordained priest in 2004 and served her title at Redland Parish Church in the Diocese of Bristol, and St John’s, Deptford, in the Diocese of Southwark.
In 2008, Esther was appointed Associate Minister at St Matthew’s, Borstal, additionally serving as Chaplain at Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School until 2009 and as Prison Chaplain for Cookham Wood from 2010. Esther was appointed Team Vicar at St John, Cove, in the Diocese of Guildford, in 2011 and in 2018 took up her current role as Vicar of St John the Baptist, Egham.
Esther is married to Matt, who is also ordained, and they have two teenaged children.
The Church of England’s House of Bishops held an online meeting this week, after which they issued the following press release.
House of Bishops Meeting – December 2024
11/12/2024
The House of Bishops convened online on December 10.
The House discussed the ongoing action being taken in response to the release of the Makin review and the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Representatives from the National Safeguarding Team outlined the detailed process being followed, in conjunction with relevant dioceses, in relation to those criticised in the report.
Further detail of this process can be found here: Steps currently being undertaken in response to the Makin review.
The House heard from representatives of the response group to the Wilkinson and Jay reports about the detail of independent safeguarding proposals that will be brought to General Synod in February. The lead safeguarding Bishop, Joanne Grenfell, spoke of the focus of the group on fostering trust, consulting widely and ensuring the group listened carefully to those with differing views.
In their work, the Response Group has established broad consensus that any future structure must include independence in relation to safeguarding audit, scrutiny, and complaints functions. Final proposals will go to February’s General Synod who will decide on the next steps.
The House received an update on the ongoing work of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) working groups from Bishop Martyn Snow.
21 Comments