‘WELCOME TO THE TEAM!’

When I spoke to new General Synod members in November 2005, I warmly “welcomed them to the Communications team.” I meant it. Every member of Synod is an ambassador for the Church of England, and the Synod debates are a lens through which many people view the Church.

In recent months, General Synod has become more ‘transparent’ more easily accessible to a wider audience. Audio recordings of all the Synod debates are now available on the Church of England website, shortly following their conclusion, and are gaining increasing numbers of listeners.

BBC Parliament, the BBC’s digital channel available on Freeview, cable and satellite services, now regularly broadcasts a selection of the Synod debates. The channel chose the excellent debate on Media Standards, from February’s Synod, for repeated broadcast across Easter - a compliment to our standard of debate.

In addition, the Communications Office posts updates on Synod motions on the website shortly after the end of each session, and produces a digest of Synod proceedings which members can use as part of their own briefings in their diocese or for publication in parish magazines.

The aim of each of these types of communication is to complement the media coverage the debates attract and give parishioners a direct way of finding out about Synod in action, in addition to what they learn from the TV, radio or newspapers.

That’s not to say that the work with the media is declining in importance. Far from it.

We organise a press briefing several weeks before Synod meets when we set out the agenda and take journalists through the issues that are to be discussed. Then, during Synod, in London and York, the Communications Office runs a service for journalists covering the debates. We aim to help them understand what the discussions are about and arrange for them to interview the key people involved.

The co-operation and involvement of General Synod members is central to how Synod is communicated. That’s why we organised training sessions in working with the media at the York Synod last summer, and are looking to see how we can offer further help.

During a fringe meeting at February’s Synod, the Religion in Broadcasting group invited several leading religious broadcasters to talk about their work. In a lively and positive debate, several Synod members asked how they could become more involved with the media.

My response is always that Synod members should get to know their local diocesan communications. They can help you build links with the local media, and so give you a good grounding in what journalists want.

Training in working with the media is provided by the Communications Office as part of its Communications Training programme. The day courses, run by professional communicators, aim to help church people get their message across professionally. Courses can also be organised in dioceses and deaneries, where the training comes to you. More information at: http://www.commstraining.cofe.anglican.org/2007

The General Synod pages of the Church of England website are at: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/gensynod

Happy communicating!

Peter Crumpler
Director of Communications, Archbishops' Council