1 The Revd Canon Dr Dagmar WinterFebruary 2017 Session General Synod Presentation The Revd Canon Dr Dagmar Winter
2 General Synod Report Session February 2017 in London
3 Planning some work on Clergy WellbeingGeneral Synod Report: February 2017 House of Clergy Meeting Planning some work on Clergy Wellbeing
4 General Synod Report: February 2017Business Committee Report Debate around: Nature of the Take Note Debate Process of Shared Conversations Group Work Processes which have left people feeling vulnerable etc
5 General Synod Report: February 2017Dates of Group of Sessions surprisingly passionate speeches on whether we should or should not meet on a Saturday in future!
6 General Synod Report: February 2017Anniversary of the Reformation ecumenical agreements giving thanks to God for the rich spiritual blessings which the Reformation brought to the CofE
7 General Synod Report: February 2017Presidential Address How are we going to contribute to the national future as Britain is re-imagined? We must guard against temptations to self-indulgence to power and glory to grand gestures avoiding the cross
8 for 15 years First Estates CommissionerGeneral Synod Report: February 2017 Farewell to Andreas Whittam-Smith for 15 years First Estates Commissioner
9 General Synod Report: February 2017Preliminaries to Marriage This motion argued for universal civil preliminaries (similar to Scotland). Arguments for this: reduction of admin burden and legal stress for clergy unshackled from state so we can define marriage ourselves (?!?) This was about much more than banns. But we love banns! They are a tremendous mission opportunity! The motion was lost.
10 General Synod Report: February 2017LoL: Lots of Legislation Mission & Pastoral etc Measure Draft Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) (Amendment) Regulations Pensions (Amendment) Regulations Safeguarding (Clergy Risk Assessment) Regulations 2 Draft Amending Canons: no need to wear surplice/alb for HC or cassock & surplice for Morning/Evening Prayer on Sundays - appropriate dress must be worn! ‘Normal’ funeral order of service can be used in case of suicide
11 General Synod Report: February 2017Creation of Suffragan See for the Diocese of Leicester There shall be a Suffragan Bishop of Loughborough, replacing an Assistant Bishop (sounds familiar???). special role of nurturing BAME communities
12 General Synod Report: February 2017Fixed Odds Betting Terminals: Reduction of Minimum Stake Betting shops in poor areas, you can gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds! Synod welcomes HMG’s review and requests reduction of max amount from £100 to £2 power to local authorities on location of terminals
13 General Synod Report: February 2017Marriage and Same Sex Relationships, after the Shared Conversations Presentation Group work Debate ABC speech: we need a radical new inclusion based in love neither careless of theology nor ignorant of the world around us +Christine now to lead Pastoral Oversight Group
14 General Synod Report: February 2017Farewell to the Bishop of London +Richard Chartres Bishop of London 1995 – 2017
15 General Synod Report: February 2017Address by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion The Most Revd Dr Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon brought greetings spoke of sense of gratitude to CofE as mother church “Take your gifts, make them the centre of your energies, share them among yourselves and around the world.”
16 General Synod Report: February 2017Setting God’s People Free A Report on lay discipleship, ministry and leadership (1/2) It calls for a shift in culture - not a narrow, centrally driven strategy. It looks beyond and outside Church structures to the whole people of God at work in communities and wider society - not to 'fixing' the institutional Church. It seeks to affirm and enable the complementary roles and vocations of clergy and of lay people, grounded in our common baptism - not to blur or undermine these distinctions.
17 General Synod Report: February 2017Setting God’s People Free A Report on lay discipleship, ministry and leadership (2/2) It proposes steps to nourish, illuminate and connect what is working already in and through frontline parishes - not to institute a top down approach. It aims to see confident involvement, engagement and leadership of lay people wherever they are called to serve - not to devise lay alternatives to clergy.
18 General Synod Report: February 2017Mission and Administration (Private Member’s Motion) don’t apply subsidiarity principle to purely admin functions identify opportunities for nationally provided admin services in order to release resources and generate economies
19 General Synod Report: February 2017Note the praying presence of the Community of St Anselm based at Lambeth Palace (A Year in God’s Time).
20 time for a break (for those in the House of Clergy)Saturday 20th May 2017 time for a break (for those in the House of Clergy)