The global Anglican Communion will have a greater voice on the body which nominates future Archbishops of Canterbury as a result of changes approved by the Church of England’s General Synod today.Until now the wider worldwide Anglican Communion, outside of England, has been represented by just one of the 16 members of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for the See of Canterbury.But under changes to the Standing Orders of the General Synod formally approved today, there will now be five representatives of other churches of the Anglican Communion – one each from Africa; the Americas; Middle East and Asia; Oceania and Europe. The new rules will also ensure the inclusion of laity and clergy as well as bishops; a balance of men and women and that at least half of the five will be of Global Majority Heritage. All diocesan bishops of the Church of England, including the archbishops, are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen following a nomination by the Crown Nominations Commission for the see. Under the changes the Canterbury CNC will now have 17 voting members, with the number of representatives from the Diocese of Canterbury reducing from six to three. Meanwhile the appointment process for the Bishop of Dover, the suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Canterbury, will be carried out by a CNC rather than being appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as in the past.The changes were agreed in principle through a series of motions passed at Synod and Saturday. New standing orders were then drafted and were approved in a further vote today. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: "From the richest to the poorest nations, the Anglican Communion spans a hugely diverse tapestry of societies, cultures and human experience. “Anglicans worldwide have a profound and historic relationship with the See of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has the great privilege of serving as a focus of unity for Anglican churches across the globe. “It is only right that this international family of churches is given a voice in the process of selecting the ‘first among equals’ of the bishops of our global communion. “That is why I am pleased that General Synod has voted to increase the representation of Anglicans from around the Communion in the process of choosing future Archbishops of Canterbury. “This small but important step will ensure that the Crown Nominations Commission for the See of Canterbury has balanced and diverse representation from the entire Anglican Communion. “I also want to thank the Diocese of Canterbury for giving up three seats on the Canterbury CNC to enable this change. “I pray that this significant step will bind us more closely together as disciples of Jesus Christ, called to share his good news with a world in need.”
The Church of England’s General Synod has called on the Government to introduce legislation requiring pornographic sites to use age verification systems preventing access by under 18s.A motion was passed encouraging quicker progress to be made in tightening up laws after previous attempts have stalled.A large number of children and young people say they have viewed pornography, with one survey before lockdown showing 78 per cent of sixth formers in a school said they had seen porn in the last week, the synod heard. Introducing the motion, the Revd Jo Winn-Smith (Guildford) said that age verification “ought to be a no-brainer.”“This is an issue about which parents and children themselves are highly concerned,” she continued.“Exposure to sexualised material is more likely to lead to young people engaging in more sexualised behaviour and to feel social pressure to have sex, and to think that they can and should have sex in these unhealthy ways and relationships.”“Friends, there is a time for reasonable patience, and then there is principled frustration. The need to safeguard children and young people is something to unite around.“Additionally, as parents, as communities, as churches and schools, we all have a part to play in seeking to support young people in their developing sexuality and as they start to experience romantic relationships.“By engaging with them and teaching them and modelling to them healthy adult relationships, backed up by social structures like age-appropriate safeguards including this essential measure of age verification, we can help young people to develop and grow and flourish as they mature.” Detrimental effects of pornography include the sexualising of young people, normalising sexual violence against girls and women, and creating a distorted view of what constitutes normal sexual relations.While it is hoped the Online Safety Bill currently going through parliament will improve matters, it was noted that legislation introduced in 2018 targeting commercial pornography sites never came into effect, and that new laws had been proposed by David Cameron still earlier in 2013.It was also noted that the industry has made progress in developing the necessary tools to verify age once required.The motion, from the Guildford Diocesan Synod, also urged more social and educational programmes to increase awareness of the harms, including self-generated sexually explicit images.A large number of synod members spoke to support the motion, including the Bishop of Guildford who paid tribute to a Deanery Synod member, Charlene Smith, of Leatherhead Deanery, who first raised the motion.The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, supporting the motion, said that The Lords Spiritual were “taking great interest” in the issue of internet safety in the House of Lords, and that conversations with tech firms suggested that age verification systems were a workable possibility.“The Internet is not a platform, it is a public space, where all the rights and norms you would expect in public should apply,” he said. “It’s about making the internet safe by design. This can be done, but we need regulation, a code of practice and a code of conduct to make it happen.“In the 1970s we quite famously put fluoride in the water supply because we knew it would be great for dental health. What we the Church need to be in the forefront of campaigning about is putting some fluoride in the internet!"In a counted vote of the whole synod, there were 263 voting in favour, 2 against, and with 3 abstentions.
This week our focus is on something I find incredibly difficult to do – rest. When we think of busyness and rest in a biblical context we often go to the story of Mary and Martha. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a ‘Martha’. While I think Martha gets a slightly bad wrap (she really was trying), it is clear that Mary had offered true hospitality in listening and discovered deep rest in sitting at the feet of Jesus. From the very beginning, God modelled rest and throughout the gospels Jesus models working from a place of rest and intimacy with his Father.Sometimes we can end up being so busy for the kingdom of God that we neglect to actually experience it ourselves. So, as we move through this summer holiday period, we would like to encourage our readers to slow down, rest and engage with titles such as Tony Horsfall’s Rhythms of Grace, The Art of Peace by David Cole (Brother Cassian) or Seven Sacred Spaces by George Lings. We recommend a number of fantastic titles this month so we encourage you to dive in and pursue true rest at the feet of Jesus. Tracey Jones of Living Faith
Following a debate, members backed a Private Member’s Motion (PMM) paying tribute to the ‘enormous and untiring’ efforts of health professionals working in palliative and end of life care. They called on the Government to guarantee adequate funding and resourcing of palliative care services to ensure the highest possible standards of care for all. Members further affirmed that the law on Assisted Suicide should remain unchanged.General Synod member Dr Simon Eyre, from the Diocese of Chichester, introducing the PMM, called for the Government to ensure adequate funding for hospices over the next decade.He said palliative care was currently ‘insufficiently comprehensive’ with only one palliative care consultant per 100,000 of the population.“Our response needs to be an honest one, that palliative care can fail to deliver its best at times but it should also be our logical conclusion that we need to seek ever improving excellence in palliative care services, through training, research and investment, rather that enacting new legislation on Assisted Suicide as a route out of the problem,” he told the Synod.Following a debate where members heard powerful personal testimonies, the Synod observed a period of prayer before voting. The full wording of the Private Member’s Motion is below:‘That this Synod: (a) appreciate the enormous and untiring efforts of health professionals, including healthcare chaplains, in constantly developing and maintaining the excellence of palliative and end of life care provision in this country; (b) call on Her Majesty’s Government to guarantee and expedite the adequate funding and resourcing of palliative care services within the NHS to ensure that the highest possible standards of care are achieved and made universally accessible; and(c) affirm that the current legislation in relation to Assisted Suicide referenced in Section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961 (and its application through the DPP guidelines) should remain unchanged.’The voting was 289 in favour, 25 against and 33 abstentions.
