Reflections on the July 2011 session at York

One of the joys of being a member of the General Synod is trying to make any sense of what we do and testing whether it has any real effect on the mission of our church. Having studied the agenda and the papers (well some anyway) I approached this session (my 13th) thinking ‘well not a sparklingly interesting few days, need to get on with more reading, listening diligently, voting care-fully, learning from the wisdom of others and making the odd (well hopefully not very odd) contribution’.

Some were concerned about spending a whole morning in small groups – better to be doing business was the cry. I found myself in group with two folk in particular with whom I have diametrically opposed views, but what a joy it was to meditate, pray and study the bible together (game set and match to God)! I felt suitably chastised.

Good things were done and affirmed: support for Mission Action Planning, Minority Ethic issues, Church and Education, Presence and Engagement to name but four. We do this rather well. One cannot attend this sort of debate and not be amazed and challenged by the vision and endeavour of what fellow members do for our mission in the world.

Nevertheless there were some things which I found troubling and disappointing. Why does it take so long to produce children’s Eucharistic prayers (11 years and counting), and why after much careful work and consultation are we still submitting nuanced changes to revision committees? Why do we spend 4 years working away on a new model for parochial fees, seek and obtain outline approval and then fail to produce something in detail which commands sufficient support for it to be accepted? The issue of the Chair of the Business Committee was most unfortunate, the reasons for this debacle are unclear (tome anyway) but I did submit some thoughts and suggestions to Archbishops’ Council as requested. My other puzzlement was the debate on the admission of baptised adults to communion. Whilst understanding the case for confirmation first, not to resolve the issue one way or another is maybe pragmatic but unsatisfactory.

We are a very human organisation seeking to do stuff in the name of Christ, and most of the time our God is gracious enough to allow us to serve him effectively in spite of our weaknesses and very obvious frailties! I think she/he must have a great sense of humour.

Stephen Barney, Leicester
Membership Secretary

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