As I have already said on this blog, I am doing the July 2026 Synod by zoom. This is my first experience of zoom Synod and it’s not easy, despite the very good online access to debates. Even with WhatsApp, I miss the contact with people with whom I’ve been working for five years. But not being there for social time means I have more time to write about what happened at Synod, and I know there are some of you who appreciate that.

First, though, to give you a flavour of what I am doing, here is my approach to being on zoom for the best part of five days. I decided to follow the model which our local Baptist church has used for its group supporting older people; my mum used to attend the group, because it was a good change of scene and, although she wasn’t always entirely enthusiastic about the content, one thing which she enjoyed very much was the annual ‘Holiday At Home’ event. This took place over a few days, with a theme. So, if the venue for the ‘Holiday’ was France, you’d turn up every morning and there would be posters of the Eiffel Tower and vineyards on the walls, a quiz on French towns, French-themed food for lunch, a singalong to Frère Jacques… you get the picture. And Eiffel Tower keyrings and macarons in the goodie bags at the end (my mum’s favourite part was always the goodie bag).

So, Synod At Home: cooked breakfast essential – so I fried up some things, outside in the garden. Access to a life-saving ice cream from a vending machine – I managed to find some ice creams in the depressingly thin heatwave pickings at the local supermarket. Excellent range of cold meats and fish and salad at lunch – fridge stocked. I haven’t been able to replicate things like a dodgy smell and/or unidentified insect life in the shower, or finding no hot water in my room, or a very uncomfortable mattress with the odd spring coming out. Nor, more sadly, can I duplicate the tiny desserts in shot glasses, one of York University’s best catering offerings, although I have always found the food very good all round. Nor can I replicate the fringe meetings, over 40 of them, scheduled before breakfast, over lunch and after dinner. I have never been much of a one for the pre-breakfast ones but it’s a pity to miss some of the other items on offer this time. Some offer useful briefings: others introduce members to new things: and others are simply fun. I am sad to miss the one put on by a group of survivors from Newcastle diocese, Jagged Edges, but I have the book that they put together and wrote about it here.

Missing fringes 

That comment about missing fringes doesn’t apply to the one I would most definitely miss, and not just because it’s in that pre-breakfast slot: the one being put on tomorrow (Monday) by Christian Concern, featuring speakers who believe that God has changed their sexual identity (changed towards heterosexuality, naturally: it’s apparently a one-way process). Before Synod started, there was considerable discussion of this event; should it be allowed, particularly bearing in mind that in 2017 Synod passed a motion rejecting conversion practices? Some of our members have been through these. 

Originally there was also going to be a display in addition to the fringe, on a table in the exhibition area. After the matter was raised with the Archbishops, while the fringe remains on the agenda (but with a different title), the display has been banned, although from various WhatsApp groups I saw that a version of this display turned up briefly outside the debating chamber on Friday and some people were shouting about ‘apostate priests’ outside the chamber and ‘stand up for Biblical marriage’ (I assume they don’t mean polygamy?) on Saturday. I’m not sure how that is considered OK.

Relevant to this is a Question I put in during Friday’s Question session. It’s Question 13:

The publication date of the short “resource for churches and local ministry teams” – Lord Teach Us to Pray: Prayer in Pastoral Settings and Guidelines for Good Practice – produced by FAOC, has been delayed several times in the last few years. It is “intended as a resource for churches and local ministry teams”. As praying with others is an area in which good practice urgently needs to be established, how firm is the current publication date of 28 January 2028?

The written response from the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe as Chair of the Faith and Order Commission was:

The publication timeline for Lord Teach Us to Pray has been extended in order to allow for further consultation with people who have lived experience of abuse in a church context. This has indicated the need for some revisions, which are now complete. While the final elements of the publication process lie with Church House Publishing, at present those involved are confident that the publication date will not be delayed any further. 

Which all sounds good; of course the resource needs to draw on those with lived experience of abuse. Once the online system had successfully connected to one of my four mic options (tense aspect of Synod At Home…), I asked a supplementary which referred back to the disputed fringe and display. I pointed out the relevance to this of the issue about how we can pray with one another in a way which avoids coercion, meaning that this delayed book is now even more important. As the revisions are complete, can Church House Publishing be approached to expedite publication? The answer was a statement that it would be published as soon as possible. I do wonder whether that still means January 2028…

Debates so far

Apart from a couple of other supplementary questions, I’ve been silent, although I’ve been present for all the agenda items so far. Doing Synod At Home means I can refill my water bottle, nip to the loo, and immerse my feet in a bowl of cold water whenever I feel like it. Major wins!

After an address from the Archbishop of York summing up what he felt about the last five years of Synod, Friday’s debate on affirming neurodiversity was excellent, with people sharing their experiences and those of their family members. The motion asks for dioceses to have neurodiversity champions, and for all of us to help neurodivergent people to flourish in local contexts. We heard about training being led by neurodivergent people; an excellent example of going beyond even ‘Nothing about us without us’.  Everyone who spoke was engaging, including Rebecca Chapman whose neurodivergent son was present in the public gallery, and the Archbishop of Canterbury who spoke about the effect her dyslexia had had on her life (more on that here). Confusing ‘prostate’ and ‘prostrate’ was not even the half of it!

I put in to speak on the Communications Private Member’s Motion on Saturday but wasn’t called. The upshot of that debate was to reject the motion, which was going to be the thrust of my speech had it happened; the work on the central website and on A Church Near You (ACNY) has already happened and we don’t need to spend around £70k on another review while changes are about to happen. I had been hoping to say something about ACNY and its potential; for example it has tags for accessible loos, hearing loop, work with children, and use of the Book of Common Prayer, as well as use of the Prayers of Love and Faith – but nothing to indicate whether the parish accepts the full priestly ministry of women. We also had some legislative business, and we saw the new Clergy Conduct Rules through their next stage; replacing the Clergy Discipline Measure, these will triage complaints into grievances/misconduct/serious misconduct. The aim is to make the process more transparent and quicker, recognising that delays are painful for everyone involved. We then had some more tweaks to the election rules before the presentation on Promoting Unity in Our Nation.

The theme was resourcing churches for debates on religion and nationalism and democracy. The focus was on seeking each other’s welfare. I’ll be honest, and I know I am not alone in this among Synod members, I don’t like presentations. And there’s another two scheduled for Sunday. Even without sitting in a hot debating chamber in York (or a hot room at home) for the three hours that the Unity one took, hearing speakers in person or by video and breaking into small groups for discussion doesn’t seem to get us anywhere. Some of the stories we heard were interesting but the overall impression was of being talked at. The supporting paper made good comments about wider social factors leading to division; loss of trust in national institutions (not just the Church) and the decline in local institutions like “working men’s clubs, welfare halls, liberal clubs, trades halls, and so on that gave ordinary people regular contact and reciprocal relationships with their neighbours … The result is that many people now lack what previous generations took for granted: a place outside the home and workplace where they encountered others as equals and learned the ordinary disciplines of shared life — how to speak in a group, listen to disagreement, organise a shared event, make a decision with others.” Good analysis, but then what? There is an official summary of the event here, but as usual I wonder what the value of us sharing stories is, beyond the Synod chamber. I suppose it did at least point us to some resources, among them the excellent Churches Together in England resources, Kingdom Over Nation.

On to Sunday… watch this space. I shall be watching the York Minster service in the morning online, and expect to be blown away – as usual – by the beauty of the music.