A disappointing vote but all is not lost.... Save the Parish founder Marcus Walker writes about last week's vote at the General Synod when a motion from the Bishops of Hereford, and Bath and Wells, to boost money available to dioceses for clergy posts was voted down. But as Marcus says - there are a number of very important straws in the wind to note. Nine bishops voted with the STP-aligned motion (and two abstained) -
this is an increase from zero two years ago (even if 22 voted still lined
up on the other side). He notes:
" It is sad that 22 bishops are backing the central church
model - where money left by our forebears to fund ministry is doled out in
grants to shiny pet projects rather than maintaining boring old ministry in
boring old parishes. But this is a campaign whose time has come and I
expect an increasing number of people - bishops, clergy, and lay - to
realise that this proposal is a life-saver for the local church. As Victor
Hugo said, “there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has
come.”
For this to happen, we will need your support. The
actual voting lists have not yet come out but when they do, you - as
members of the Church of England - have the right to ask those bishops to
change their mind. This is especially true if those bishops are running a
deficit in their diocese, and most especially true if they have the brass
neck to ask for a parish share increase over the next few years, an
increase they know they could have avoided completely had they voted the
other way."
For the full letter, please read on below. For a useful summary of the debate from the Bishop of Hereford on his motion, click here
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Our meeting of General Synod in York is over and I
thought I would brief you on what happened. You may know that we were
strongly supporting the motion from the Bishops of Hereford and Bath and
Wells to call for a permanent transferral of funds from the annual income
of the Church Commissioners’ endowment (to to the tune of about £100m a
year, or 1% of the endowment itself) which would have boosted the money
available to dioceses to fund clergy posts significantly and wiped out the
deficits run by 83% of dioceses - which, of course, many use to justify the
closure of churches and the reduction in clergy numbers. Sadly this did not win. Despite very good speeches from
Hereford, Bath and Wells, and Chelmsford (along with a good few from us
clergy and laity), a wrecking amendment from the Bishop of Sheffield was
passed. This kicks the question into the long grass, committing to a debate
in the next three years over how the Church Commissioners’ money is spent.
The Central Church lined up a slate of speakers almost entirely from the
Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council to tell us that 1) of
course they know better how to do mission than priests and bishops on the
ground; 2) giving dioceses and parishes enough money to survive will take
away their incentive to engage in mission; and 3) shaving £100m of the
endowment each year (from income) would be so catastrophic that the
Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council would use their influence in
Parliament to block it, even if General Synod passed it. Sadly, their
wrecking amendment passed, so the short answer to “how did Synod go” is
“the vote went not necessarily to our advantage”. And yet… there are a number of very important straws in
the wind to note. The first is that, when voting on the Sheffield
Amendment, 9 bishops voted with an STP-aligned motion (and two abstained) -
this is an increase from zero two years ago (even if 22 voted still lined
up on the other side). More and more bishops are coming to see that the
only way to revive the church is through the local, and that the best way
for the national church to support the local is to make sure we are
properly funded. There is a great weight of evidence, mostly from the
national church itself, which shows that resourcing parish ministry is much
more effective than prioritising grant funding for new projects and it is a
very healthy development that an increasing number of bishops are
recognising this. It is sad that 22 bishops are backing the central church
model - where money left by our forebears to fund ministry is doled out in
grants to shiny pet projects rather than maintaining boring old ministry in
boring old parishes. But this is a campaign whose time has come and I
expect an increasing number of people - bishops, clergy, and lay - to
realise that this proposal is a life-saver for the local church. As Victor
Hugo said, “there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has
come.” For this to happen, we will need your support. The
actual voting lists have not yet come out but when they do, you - as
members of the Church of England - have the right to ask those bishops to
change their mind. This is especially true if those bishops are running a
deficit in their diocese, and most especially true if they have the brass
neck to ask for a parish share increase over the next few years, an
increase they know they could have avoided completely had they voted the
other way. At some point in the next three years, this is going to
be debated again - and by that point there will have been new General Synod
elections. We need people to stand for Synod in the summer of 2026 order
that next time we win the vote. Next year we will be putting out a call for
candidates. If you could volunteer your time we need you to stand. Also, if
you have experience running campaigns, we need a campaign manager. Please
let us know if this could be you.
With every blessing, The Reverend Marcus Walker | |
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