General Synod: Good Governance or a Power Grab?
by Luke Appleton, Anglican Ink:
I have just come back from the opening session of the eleventh General Synod and I am reminded of a saying that I have heard a few of our American friends say: that if there are smoke bombs going off in the post office, then it is the bank that’s being robbed.
And Synod had some smoke bombs. Firstly it had the hijacking of an important statement and clarification on the Ghana issue by a handful of protestors who abruptly stood up for what may have been a good twitter photo opportunity but was met almost with a sigh in the chamber. Thankfully those actually engaging with the process like adults were able to get a useful clarification from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then it had a motion on calling on the Government to end inequality. Did it draw on the CofE’s vast network of foodbanks and community relief efforts to suggest tangible changes the Government could make to reduce inequality? No. Just a call for someone else to make the problem go away. It was the theological equivalent of angry man shakes fist at cloud.
The Save the Parish campaign was out in force with both Marcus Walker and Prudence Dailey wasting no time to be an effective presence on the floor unapologetically standing up for the Parish System. They have made waves. Much of the Archbishop’s opening addresses spoke directly to the campaigns concerns. There were many voices that spoke up on these issues and every other hot-button issue.
Then came the presentation on Governance. Suddenly the chamber emptied and the tea-room filled (I’m being hyperbolic – but a number of members left at the beginning of the presentation). We heard how the church’s national bodies were to be merged. That we all (Synod and other stakeholders) needed to be selfless, while those at the centre should accumulate more power and responsibility. We were told how currently there is too wide a distribution of power and resources which makes accountability difficult. Though I wonder if the Bishop could point to one example of where the centralisation of power has led to more accountability?
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