Save The Parish blocks moves at General Synod to give Bishops new powers to sell off parish property
Save The Parish's Emma Thompson writes about a major success at this month's General Synod. The campaign succeeded in blocking moves to give Bishops new powers to sell off parish property .... Given all the big stories that have hit the press recently about General Synod (the Church’s parliament), you would be forgiven for not noticing one little vote on a clause in the very boring-sounding ‘Miscellaneous Provisions Measure’. As is often the case, the more boring the name of a Bill, and the more controversial the matters that surround it, the more likely it is that something significant might lurk in the detail. This Miscellaneous Provisions Measure was no exception. Sitting quietly in clause 15 was a proposal to allow bishops unilaterally to sell parish land during an interregnum. We spotted this and managed to achieve our first major Synod win as Save The Parish. The Revd Tom Woolford, a STP member, proposed what he described as ‘the soft and cuddly end’ of Save