Edmund Marshall was first elected to General Synod in 2000 as a Wake-field lay representative. In 2006 he chaired the Revision Committee for the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure, and from 2006 to 2011 was a Synod-elected member of the Council for Christian Unity. After moving home in 2007, he stood successfully for re-election to General Synod in 2010 in the St. Albans Diocese.

A licensed Reader since 1994, Edmund has now served for over 52 years as a Local Preacher of the Methodist Church, and was Vice-President of the Methodist Conference in 1992-3. For him, the strongest ecumenical co-operation is essential to the whole future of the Christian Church.