Weekly Thoughts

FATHER MICHAEL’S DIARY

14 FEBRUARY 2025

THE GENERAL SYNOD

The General Synod of the Church of England met this week from 10 to 14 February and made several decisions which will vitally effect the life of our Church. Until 1919 the Church of England was effectively governed by parliament but as the composition of Parliament changed with the admission of non-Anglicans, atheists, members of other religions and those opposed to religion the situation was becoming untenable. The Life and Liberty movement led by William Temple who was to become successively Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury campaigned for the church to become self-governing. The result was the setting up of the Church Assembly in 1919. Although this continued for nearly 60 years, until 1970, these were not without difficulty. As major changes still required parliamentary approval The most contentious of these concerned the revised Book of Common Prayer. This approved by the Church Assembly in 1928 but rejected by parliament. As a result the Bishops declared that they would not take any action against any clergyman who used the revised book. This situation continued until the modern process of liturgical revision started in the 1960s by now the General Synod had full control of the liturgy.

The General Synod consists of three houses; bishops, clergy and laity. The House of Bishops is made up of the diocesan bishops (including Christopher, our bishop) together with a number of suffragan bishops (50 in all). The house of clergy numbers just under 200 and the House of Laity around 260 elected respectively by the clergy and lay members of Deanery Synods. The elections take place every 5 years, there are elections due later this year, Although some measures can be passed by a simple majority important ones need a 2/3rds majority in all three houses. If a measure fails it cannot be brought back to synod until after the next round of elections. This can sometimes cause significant delays, the worst example was the measure to ordain women as priests which was defeated three times causing a 15 year delay in the process. 

This week Synod debated three important measures: safeguarding, clergy discipline, and Living in Love and Faith all of which could have a significant effect on parish life. The synod meets in public and if you want to see it session the proceedings are live streamed on the Church of England website (churchofengland.org).

READINGS AND PRAYERS

16 FEBRUARY – THE THIRD SUNDAY BEFORE LENT – Luke 6.17-26 – blessed are you… - for discipline in our Christian lives

17 FEBRUARY – Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977 – Ecclesiasticus 4.20-28 – fight to the death for truth – all suffer for the Faith today

18 FEBRUARY – Tuesday – Genesis 6.5-8, 7.1-5,10 – Noah’s ark – those working to care for the environment

19 FEBRUARY – Wednesday – Mark 8.22-26 – Jesus heals a blind man – those care for the blind and partially sighted

20 FEBRUARY – Thursday – Genesis 9.1-13 – the covenant with Noah and all humankind – the Police and the Judiciary 

21 FEBRUARY – Friday – Mark 8 34 – 9.1 – let them deny themselves and take up the cross – the spirit of self-sacrifice

22 FEBRUARY – Saturday – Hebrews 11.1-7 – faith is the assurance of things hoped for – for the gift of faith