Thought for the Week beginning 9th July 2023

The General Synod of the Church of England

The Church of England is an extraordinary church. It has no formal membership, constitution, rules or doctrines, it has no overall leadership, organisation or clear authoritative structures, it is extremely diverse in terms of  worship and practice, and it covers a limited geographical area - England only, although there are related churches in the same Anglican Communion all over the world. Some have said that its very uncertainty is its strength, but it can also be somewhat confusing.

The origins of the Church of England date back to AD 597 when St. Augustine was commissioned by the then Pope, Gregory I "The Great", to lead a mission to England, which appeared at the time to be a pagan land. There had undoubtedly been Christians in England in the days of the Roman empire and there remained some Christian communities in the remoter parts of the British Isles, but Augustine's mission was very much a fresh start. He landed in Kent and founded his first church in Canterbury where he was subsequently recognised and appointed by the Pope as Bishop. All Archbishops of Canterbury look to Augustine as being the first of their number (the current holder of that office, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, is number 105).  In the Reformation of the 16th century the authority of the Pope was removed and the monarch became the head, or Supreme Governor, of the Church of England. This is important as it means that the Church of England exists for everyone in the country, regardless of their beliefs. There is no part of England that is not part of a parish with its parish church. There is no membership, no rules you have to sign up to if you want to attend your parish church, and if you live in the parish you are entitled to be baptised, married and buried there. There are some countries of the world which have a national church like this, Sweden and Denmark for example, but they are rare.

There may be no fixed doctrine or constitution but the church is grounded in the bible and the writings of early church leaders, and in three important documents - the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion and in the Ordinal (the services for the ordination of deacons, priests and bishops). All these provide important guidance and it has always been recognised that to apply them in the church we need to use our God-given reason and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

The above principles are simple enough but things become more difficult to understand when it comes to practical organisation. There are 42 dioceses in the Church of England, each with its own diocesan bishop who is the leader or chief pastor. (We are in the diocese of Chelmsford, our bishop the Rt. Rev. Dr. Guli Francis-Dehqani). Each diocese is largely autonomous, so we have something more like a collection of different churches. However, there has always been an underlying unity of spirit and purpose and there have always been meetings, or synods, of the dioceses to discuss and to formulate ideas and policies. Today the General Synod meets twice a year (once in in York and once in London) to debate and to pass laws (or Measures as they are called) to regulate the practice of the Church of England. As it is a national church these measures have to be subsequently approved by Parliament. Each diocese sends representatives, both lay and ordained, to the synod and all the diocesan bishops are members too. The representatives from the dioceses are elected by their local, Deanery Synods. Ours is Colchester.

The subjects which are debated are wide-ranging and of great importance. They include safeguarding, the care and protection of church buildings, the financing of the church and investments, theological education, payers and liturgies, clergy conduct and parish boundaries, to name but a few of the items which have  taken place this last weekend in York. At the previous synod there was lengthy debate about the recent report commissioned by the church, Living in Love and Faith, which is an exploration of identity, relationships, marriage and sexuality.  It will be debated again in the autumn.

Please remember the General Synod in your prayers. It may seem somewhat remote and even irrelevant to the ordinary parish church, but the matters discussed and decided upon affect all churches and worshippers, and, therefore, everyone.

Morag Bushell.