0

Category: General Synod

Home / blog / Church / General Synod
Aug72026

Discussing Working Class Vocations with the Archbishop

“When I had lunch with the Archbishop of Canterbury…” is not a phrase I had imagined ever saying. It was a great privilege to be invited; along with the Working Class Vocations Task Group, to Lambeth Palace to talk with the Archbishop and others who shape ministry pathways in the Church of England. As part of EETG for more than a decade, working class vocations have long been part of our agenda. Thanks to Alex Frost, General Synod have agreed that we must act to ensure that we “raise up a new generation of lay and ordained leaders from estates and working-class backgrounds”. What this highlights is how important it continues to be for our working class voices to be there at General Synod ensuring that our Church of England reflects the country it serves as well as our beliefs about the body of Christ.

Read more
Feb172026

Working Class Vocations and the Church of England

The General Synod of the Church of England debate last week about working class vocations was really encouraging. I was called to speak. Unfortunately, the length of time you had to talk was reduced as I was walking from my seat to the podium so I had to cut from 5 minutes to three on the fly.

Read more
Feb122026

Poverty and the Church: 40 Years After Faith In The City

This morning at General Synod we debated the Faith in the City report 40 years after its publication. I had written a speech for that strongly asked for concrete action in the next five years of General Synod’s life. Unfortunately we spent a lot of time on side quests, time was short and I was not called to speak. This is what I would have said. Please bear in mind that I write words for speaking out loud not for publishing as an article.

Read more
Jul172025

Talking Low Income Communities at General Synod

It has been a very busy week. Five days of General Synod merged straight into the business of being chair of governors at our wonderful school. And tomorrow I head to Taize with our bishop and a group of pilgrims.

I had intended to write some reflections on this session of synod but I am out of time. I have managed to quickly edit my words about Low Income Communities Funding from Saturday’s session. Please bear in mind I had a five minute speech to cram into three minutes and I was editing it down as I was speaking.