General Synod voting list - Cornwall's Bishops both vote against STP-backed pro parish finance motion

 The voting lists from the General Synod earlier this month are now out, revealing how bishops and clergy and lay representatives from each diocese voted.  Both the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, and the Bishop of St Germans the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, voted against the STP-aligned finance motion which would have channelled large amounts of Church Commissioners’ investment yields directly to parishes. Our ex Bishop, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, who initiated the controversial On The Way structural reorganisation plan in Cornwall, abstained.

 For the full list, click here.  Note that the clergy and laity voting was remarkably close. The vote was swung by Bishops collectively backing the current central church model (22-9). Click here for a good summary of the debate.

 As Save The Parish Marcus Walker wrote after the vote on 12 July 2025:

" 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.”