Outline
The General Synod met at York University from Friday 7th to Tuesday 11th July. As is the usual custom, we all attended the Eucharist at York Minister on the Sunday morning at which the Archbishop of York both presided and (at one point) accompanied the singing with his bongo drums. The Archbishop of Canterbury preached.

Women Bishops
There can be a good deal of confusion over the way in which we debate whether or not we might now ordain women as bishops in the Church of England. We voted for women bishops at this Synod, but we have not yet got to a final vote on the matter, for which a two-thirds majority will be needed in each house. On the Saturday morning we had a debate on the theological principles of whether or women should be bishops. For some people this was (at long last) the opportunity to hear the theological arguments for and against such ordinations. In fact those opposed to the ordination of women as Bishops could produce no arguments at all, in terms of theology. The lead speech against the motion came from Fr.Jonathan Baker, who said that the division in the church is over whether ordaining women as bishops is a change to Holy Orders or a development of them. Others gave some powerful arguments for ordaining women as bishops, including contributions from the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham. In the end we voted by houses and the majorities in favour were 77.5% in the House of Bishops, 76.13% in the House of Clergy and 64.39% in the House of Laity. It will be noted that, had this been the final vote, it would have failed to reach a two-thirds majority in the House of Laity, but not everyone was in the chamber at the time of the vote. A final vote is likely to be passed by the Bishops and the Clergy, but at this stage the vote in the House of Laity is too close to call.

On the Monday we continued with a debate on how to move forward to the ordination of women as bishops. It was sad to find that this debate was televised, for it was a particularly dreadful piece of synodical work. The problem lay in the fact that a number of amendments were tabled, each of which had to be debated and put to the vote. By the time we had discussed such questions as to whether or not there should be an equal number of men and women of the committee to draft the legislation to allow women to be bishops, we had very little time to debate what form the legislation should take. It might be said that General Synod wishes to proceed with the ordination of women as bishops, but it does not wish to upset anyone. It is hard to imagine any possible middle way and either we will have to get on with it, or conclude that we simply cannot make a decision. The Bishop of Durham concluded that the ministry of women is a gift from God and he urged us to help ourselves". The process is now in the hands of a drafting committee, which has been given no clear guidelines from Synod as to how they might proceed. Resources to guide you in this debate can be found at www.cofe.anglican.org/about/gensynod/agendas/gsmisc827.rtf

The Dioceses, Pastoral & Mission Measure
This was the largest piece of legislative business for many years. The main point of the legislation is to enable the church structures to become lighter and more flexible. The General Duty on those carrying out the functions under the legislation are, in the words of the Introduction, to be applied "with due regard to the furtherance of the mission of the Church of England." Much of it is about procedure and reorganisation schemes. The Legislation is not unimportant but the detail is highly complex and of limited interest unless a body or individual is involved in a legal change. But some brief overview may be of interest - or not!

After sections on Provincial and Diocesan Structures, Pastoral Schemes, Pastoral Church Buildings Schemes and Redundant Church Buildings, the measure moves on to more exiting proposals giving the Bishop, after proper consultation, the power to issue a Bishop's Mission Order to enable new initiatives, plants, fresh initiatives etc which are not legally permitted under existing Law. The other main section concerns the functions of Diocesan Pastoral Committees which Synod decided to call "Mission and Pastoral Committees to better express their real purpose in respect of "worship, mission and community." The measure also comprises minor changes to provisions for the Care of Church Buildings, new parishes, curates and some Schedules. The Measure now goes back to the lawyers before final approval is given at a future synod.

Faithful Cities
Faithful Cities - A Call for Celebration, Vision and Justice is a major report from the Church Of England's Commission on Urban Life and Faith chaired by Baroness Richardson of Calow. It comes 20 years on from the landmark Faith in the City report. In Synod the Report was presented by Baroness Richardson and the Archbishop of York before some group discussion and speeches by members of Synod.

Faithful Cities is about the places people live (cities, towns and the wide range of urban communities) and the way lives are changing. It is about citizenship, politics and the challenges God poses his disciples. "Faithful Capital" is a key concept in the Report. Vital concerns are the issues of human flourishing, relationships, how people live together, what makes a place good to live in and regeneration. The Report concludes with practical recommendations.

A major strand of the report encourages faith groups and others to initiate What makes a good city? debates in the towns, cities and communities where they live, and to look at the report and its practical recommendations in order to consider how they might respond to the challenges of those who live in urban communities face and of the report. Much material is available at www.culf.org.uk . The Report, A manageable Summary and Discussion Material can be downloaded.

Comments and observations made debate included -

• Who benefits from regeneration and who owns the cities? Real local people need to be considered.


• Is there sufficient or the right theology in the report? Some believed so whilst others thought it was inadequate and that the particular place of the Christian faith, as opposed to faith in general, was not highlighted.


• Were Spiritual poverty and evangelism given sufficient consideration?


• Christian faith and action needed to be alongside each other and thinking need to be joined up.


• Partnership is important at every level.

The Report was welcomed and the following Motion passed with only one against -

"This Synod (a) commend Faithful Cities, a call for celebration, vision and justice to the dioceses and to the wider church for study and action; (b) encourage dioceses, deaneries and parishes to use the report as a resource for debate and dialogue with national and local government, and other partners, on the future of our towns and cities; (c) renew the Church of England's commitment to mission and ministry in urban areas through dynamic and prophetic partnerships with all who seek human flourishing; and (d) ask the Archbishops' Council to report at the July 2007 group of sessions of Synod on the steps needed to take forward the report's recommendations and implications."

Presidential Addresses
The Archbishop of Canterbury used his address to provide an update on the current situation in the Anglican Communion, particularly in the light of the recent session of the General Convention of ECUSA. In spite of what he described as a 'costly intervention' by Bishop Frank Griswold, the resolutions of Convention leave a number of unanswered questions and there is a small group carrying this forward.

His address highlighted the internal fragility in a number of places of a number of provinces and that there is a real possibility of the disappearance of an international structure for the Anglican Communion - this is a cause of anxiety because "the complete breakdown of the Communion might mean - not the blooming of a thousand flowers, but a situation in which vulnerable churches suffer." The archbishop reaffirmed his commitment to the ideal of a Catholic Church - which has to be something more than a loose grouping of people who happen to call themselves Anglican. "I believe that the vision of Catholic sacramental unity without centralisation of coercion is one that we have witnessed to at our best and still need to work at." This message of working together for that unity was something that ran as an underlying theme throughout the subsequent Synod debates. You can read the full text of the address at www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/releases/060707.htm

The Archbishop of York also gave a presidential address on the theme of Gracious Magnanimity. He warned us not to legislate to the point of being in human and spoke about the wisdom on knowing when not to apply the letter of the law, giving Jesus' encounter with the woman caught in the act of adultery as an example. He spoke of the glory of the recent Convention of the Anglican Church in the USA, who so lived the gospel, yet fell short of the exact requirements of the recent Windsor Report. He said that we shall all be judged by the extent to which we are prepared to accept the wounds of love through laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters. It was a powerful address and it is well worth reading the full text at www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsjul06presad.html

Questions
One thing that never seems to happen is for all the questions to be answered, even when there aren't very many (on this occasion there were only 65 tabled). Verbal replies to 38 questions were given - each question often having one or two supplementaries. There were no particularly contentious or challenging questions - which made for a particularly unexciting session! There was a request for Q46 to be answered - which was agreed - this asked "Is the House (of Bishops) aware of the pub in Paddington Railway Station named The Mad Bishop and the Bear, and can it shed any light on the identity of the mad bishop?" Perhaps this was a desperate attempt to inject some life into Question time - sadly the answer was neither amusing nor illuminating!

Church Commissioners Report
Andreas Whittam-Smith the First Estates Commissioner introduced this report with the encouraging news that the Church Commissioners fund has now reached some £5 billion, and has enjoyed a 10 year record growth of some 11% per annum - this compares with the average fund growth of 8%, and places the C.C's in the top 1% of fund performers. The losses of the earl 1990's are a long time ago, and it really is unfair to keep dredging this up as these figures tell. The First Estates Commissioner encouraged Synod to receive an annual rather than biennial report, and to set up some form of Select Committee to monitor their work. Questions to the Commissioner included ones about the failure to disinvest from Caterpillar following the February resolution of Synod - since that resolution was only a recommendation the further advice taken, and the monitoring of the Caterpillar Company saw the Commissioners decide that this wasn't necessary. There remains a degree of anxiety amongst Synod members about this and the Commissioners will no doubt be asked about it again. But all in all the message, which was applauded by some Synod 'old hands' with much experience of the past, was that the Commissioners were to be commended for their Stewardship over recent years.

Pushing Further: From Strategy to Action
Currently about 43% of 16-19 year olds as well as 4.6 million adults are in Further education colleges where, compared with universities, they have no entitlement to spiritual care and only 200 of the 400 colleges have any form of chaplaincy. The Government's recent white paper on these colleges, for the first time, mentions this need and provides an opening for the Church to minister to both students and staff. In the debate, concern was expressed about appointments which might simply be a 'chaplain to faith' but Synod warmed to the idea of partnerships with ecumenical and interfaith partners where appropriate. A motion was passed endorsing the action programme suggested in the report which included providing a chaplain to every college.

Archbishops' Council: Appointed members
The term of office of two members had recently expired and Synod approved the appointment of their successors for 5 years. Professor John Craven, Vice Chancellor of Portsmouth University and lay canon of the Cathedral will fill the educational skills gap. Philip Fletcher, Chairman of the Water Services Authority has been a Bishop's Selector for pre-theological training and a Reader for 25 years. Michael Chamberlain, Chairman of the Finance Committee was appointed for a further year in view of his key involvement with the Pensions Task Group.

Church Accounting Regulations
These seek to produce a more streamlined format without constant revision that would have a better legal basis for the future. Parishes with less than £10K income/expenditure need to have their accounts independently examined though not audited. The 'Green Guide' is being revised and the regulations come into force on 1 August 2006.

Married Couples Tax Allowance
This Private Member's Motion sought to urge the Government to explore ways of getting rid of taxation disincentives to marriage. Synod voted in favour for amendments which asked the Government to give priority to supporting family life and to remove the financial penalties placed on marriage by the tax and benefit system.

There was another debate on Marriage Law and Synod voted to bring forward new regulations which will give people a great choice of which church they can get married in, providing they can demonstrate a real connection with the church of their choice.

The Pensions Debate
A presentation on the Archbishops' Task Force report no 2, "Clergy Pensions - the Way Forward" was followed by a wide range of questions. The full report can be read at www.cofe.anglican.org/info/pensions/secrepsm.rtf. In common with private companies and public bodies, the Church of England is reviewing its pensions policy. Like all other defined benefit pension schemes, the Church's pension schemes are under pressure. They are being squeezed because of the long-term reduction in returns from investments, and the increasing life expectancy of members. On top of that, new Government regulations designed to make pension schemes more secure for their members are also likely to increase the cost of the Church's schemes. The new regulations and code of practice result from the Pensions Act 2004 and substantially change the way in which schemes have to assess their assets and liabilities. They require pensions funds to take a more cautious view of likely investment returns and to adopt an investment policy that attempts to reduce risk still further. They also stipulate that deficits in pensions funds should be made good more quickly than before.

The key questions tabled by the task group were:

• Is the Church's commitment to the clergy pension scheme in its present form such that it is willing and able to find the additional money to fund it, however high the future contribution rate might have to be, or is there an overall cost beyond which it would not be practicable or desirable to go?


• What changes in pension entitlement for the future service of existing members of the clergy should be contemplated if some cost reduction proves unavoidable?


• Should the present clergy scheme be closed to new entrants and less expensive pension arrangements be introduced for them?


• Should increases in pensions be linked in future to increases in prices rather than in stipends (as they are at present)? Without recreating unacceptable commitments for the Church Commissioners, is there any way in which their assets could help to ease the situation, particularly over the period in which past service deficit has to be cleared?

The Report is now to be discussed in Dioceses and responses, made via the Bishop's Council must be made by 10th November 2006. The issue will be debated again by the February 2007 General Synod.

Clergy Terms Of Service
Prof. David McClean, chair of the Clergy Terms of Service review group, set up in 2002, gave a lively presentation on the history of the group, and its complex task of moving from clergy freehold to common tenure and the ways in which Section 23 of the Employment Act 1999 are being interpreted by Synod for clergy. Questions related to issues of Patronage; the protection of clergy; Capability procedures and Ministerial Development reviews, resourcing and links to CME; PCC expectations of the clergy; issues relating to the Diocese of Europe and specific issues re. clergy couples

Carbon Dioxide Emissions
An important debate on CO2 emissions gave synod the chance to debate and show its concern over the challenge of global warming and the need for a lead from the churches in this matter.

The World Council Of Churches
There was a major presentation reporting back about the recent meeting of the World Council of Church at to which we had sent five representatives.

Quotes
"I am a real son of Yorkshire. My middle name is Mugabe - which backwards is e-ba-gum"
Archbishop of York.

"Synod members, please pray for the man I think my daughter intends to marry"

"I am still making the point about the point I made"