Reflections on Day 1 of Synod

Nov 14, 2023 by

by Susie Leafe, Anglican Futures: (received by email)

Last Monday night I sat in a hotel room reflecting on the privilege of having  had dinner with the Gafcon Primates and their advisors.  The Statement they published on Thursday is wise, pastoral and a real encouragement. I commend it to you.

Last night, I sat in another hotel room, having spent the day in the gallery of yet another General Synod devoted to the Prayers of Love and Faith.

The contrast in how I felt was marked.

If I am honest, the only highlight of yesterday’s proceedings was a virtual address from Bishop Hosam Nuam, the Bishop of Jerusalem.  Perhaps understandably he had a far more nuanced and wise take on the crisis in Israel and Gaza than the Archbishop of Canterbury – who used his Presidential Address to call for a political ceasefire, rather than point us to Christ.

You can watch the Bishop of Jerusalem below (from approximately 37:15)

Four Themes Emerging
Most of the day’s proceedings at General Synod revolved around questions, most of which related to Living in Love and Faith. While faithful folk sought to hold the bishops to account, the answers became more convoluted and dismissive as they went along but four themes emerged:

1) The church is in a period of uncertainty – but in that uncertainty it is important to offer those in same-sex blessings the opportunity to come to church to receive God’s blessing – what happens if the Church resolved the uncertainty by returning to God’s word is also uncertain.

2) The bishops have no intention of sharing the detail of the legal advice on which they have based their decision.

3) The bishops will commend the Prayers of Love and Faith in mid-December – unless a motion is passed by General Synod preventing them from doing so – which is unlikely as it would require more than half the bishops to vote against themselves.

4) The bishops have returned to the idea of introducing standalone services on an experimental basis – an amendment to that end has been tabled by the Bishop of Oxford and it already has the public backing of the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London.

Join us to pray for General Synod

TODAY 10-10.30am
CLICK HERE for the Zoom lInk

No Constraints
To make things worse, both Archbishops of the Church of England have revealed their unwillingness to be constrained by the Holy Scriptures, the catholic creeds, the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer or the Ordinal, choosing instead to emphasise the needs of our culture and what they perceive to be good.  You can read more in our latest blog

What do bishops have to believe?

It turns out – not very much!
Find out more by reading
Anglican Futures’ latest blog
HERE

But you are not alone

These are confusing times and we all react differently. 

Some people find they want to watch every minute of what is going on at Synod – if that is you – the link to the livestream is below and if you scroll down you’ll find a summary of the agenda/ timings.

General Synod Livestream

For those wanting to follow proceedings online
CLICK HERE
Approx timings are at end of this email

Others just want the results or have a million questions they want to ask .

So we have set up a series of opportunities for faithful Anglicans to drop in to a Zoom room and hear a quick summary of the day’s events and have a chance to ask those questions.

Tues 7-7.30pm
Wed 6.40-7.10pm
Thurs 10.30-11.30am (Coffee Room)
Thurs 7-8pm
Sign up below or email us for Zoom codes

You can also contact us directly by email, Facebook or Twitter.

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