THE P
RTAL The CofE General Synod
The Revd Paul Benfield
August 2017 Page 11 Anglican News
General Synod met in York for the second weekend in July . This was a shorter Synod than usual in the summer , meeting only from Friday afternoon until Monday teatime . The reason for the shorter meeting was that there was little legislation to consider .
The Synod gave final approval to three draft measures but these did not cause any excitement or much debate . The Legislative Reform Measure introduces a simpler legislative procedure to remove burdensome requirements of ecclesiastical legislation by an order of the Archbishops ’ Council .
This will avoid going through the whole legislative procedure of First Consideration , Revision in Committee , Revision in Full Synod , Final Drafting and Final Approval . The new procedure will still be under the control of Synod with a Scrutiny Committee and final approval required by the whole Synod . It remains to be seen how effective it will be and how often it will be used as the equivalent secular legislation has been little used .
The Statute Law ( Repeals ) Measure repealed obsolete statues , such as the Tithe Act , 1536 and the Ecclesiastical Leases Act , 1836 . The Pensions ( Pre- Consolidation ) Measure made various changes to the pensions measures so that they can all be gathered into one consolidated measure in due course , rather than being spread over various measures going back to 1961 .
There were two amending canons given final approval . One will allow the authorised funeral service to be used for a suicide victim . The other was concerned with vesture , and will allow a minister to dispense with the wearing of robes if he has ascertained , by consultation with Parochial Church Council , that the change will be acceptable and is for the benefit of the mission of the Church . Both canons bring the law into line with current practice .
On Friday afternoon , we had a motion brought by the Archbishops as emergency business on the state of the nation after the election . It did not achieve much and had something of an ‘ apple pie and motherhood ’ feel to it . Perhaps the strangest feature was when the Archbishop of York was given permission to bring an amendment to his own motion . This was to ‘ invite our co-dwellers in the United Kingdom of their own free
will to top up their income tax from their net monthly pay to supplement public expenditure on education , health and social care , and request HMRC to consult all tax payers on whether they would be willing to do this .’ It was ill thought-out , badly drafted and deserved to be defeated by a show of hands .
A debate was held on the cost of applying for British citizenship and worrying stories were told of cases where , because of a mistake or a change in the rules , applicants had to re-apply and pay a large fee again . The Synod passed a motion which requested the Archbishops ’ Council ’ s Mission and Public Affairs Committee to investigate and to make recommendations to HM Government and asked the Lords Spiritual to address the matter in debates and encouraged parishes to raise the matter with MPs .
A private members ’ motion was passed concerning the schools admission code . Though not ideally worded , the motion sought to help clergy and others who are required to live in tied accommodation . Often admission authorities will not accept applications for school places until the family has actually moved into the area . The motion asked that they accept letters of appointment as proof of residence ahead of the children of clergy and other workers who are required to live in tied accommodation moving to the area .
There was an interim report on the Review of the Crown Nominations Commission ( the body which interviews and sends the name of chosen candidates for diocesan bishoprics to the Prime Minister for transmission to the Queen ) but no definite conclusions have yet been reached . A report on clergy wellbeing was well received and further work will be done on this subject .
The most contentious debates were on liturgies for transgender people and on conversion therapy for those with same-sex attraction . These will be covered next month when the full electronic voting record has been analysed .