Updated 17 June, 23 June, 5 July
All the papers for next month’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod are now available online.
The first batch of papers for next month’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod are now available online. The remaining papers will be issued on 23 June and I will add links when these become available.
zip file of all first circulation papers
zip file of all second circulation papers
zip file of all papers
Papers in numerical order with a note of the day scheduled for their consideration
Synod meets from Friday 7 to Monday 10 July 2017.
The Archbishops have made a change to agenda for Friday to add a debate on After the General Election, a still small voice of calm. Details are in Notice Paper 4.
GS 2027B – Draft Legislative Reform Measure [Saturday]
GS 2027Z/2030Z/2032Z – Report by the Steering Committee [Saturday]
GS 2029B – Draft Amending Canon No.36 for final approval [Friday]
GS 2029BB – Draft Amending Canon No.37 for final Approval [Monday]
GS 2029C – Draft Petition for Her Majesty’s Royal Assent and Licence [Monday]
GS 2029CC – Draft Petition for Her Majesty’s Royal Assent and Licence [Monday]
GS 2029Z – Report by the Steering Committee [Saturday]
GS 2030B – Draft Statute Law (repeals) Measure [Saturday]
[see also GS 2027Z/2030Z/2032Z above]
GS 2032B – Draft Pension (Pre-consolidation) Measure [Saturday]
[see also GS 2027Z/2030Z/2032Z above]
GS 2058 – Annual Report of the Archbishops’ Council [Monday]
GS 2059 – Agenda
GS 2060 – Report by the Business Committee [Friday]
GS 2061 – Appointment to the Archbishops’ Council [Friday]
GS 2062 – Annual Report of the Audit Committee [deemed business – Friday]
GS 2063 – Presence and Engagement [Saturday]
GS 2064 – Draft Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure [deemed business – Saturday]
GS 2064x – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 2065 – Payments to the Churches Conservation Trust Order 2017 [Saturday]
GS 2065x – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 2066 – Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2017 [Saturday]
GS 2067 – Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and Others (Fees) Order 2017 [Saturday]
GS 2066/2067x – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 2068 – 52nd Report of the Standing Orders Committee [deemed business – Saturday]
GS 2069 – National Support for Local Churches: Report from the Archbishops’ Council [Saturday]
GS 2070A – Conversion Therapy, A note from Ms Jayne Ozanne [Saturday]
GS 2070B – Conversion Therapy, A note from The Secretary General [Saturday]
GS 2071A – Welcoming Transgender People, A note from The Revd Chris Newlands [Sunday]
GS 2071B – Welcoming Transgender People, A note from The Secretary General [Sunday]
GS 2072 – Clergy Wellbeing [Sunday]
[See also GS Misc 1163 below]
GS 2073A – Schools Admissions Code, A note from The Revd Tiffer Robinson [Sunday]
GS 2073B – Schools Admissions Code, A note from The Secretary General [Sunday]
GS 2074A – Cost of applying for Citizenship, A note from Mr Ben Franks [Monday]
GS 2074B – Cost of applying for Citizenship, A note from The Secretary General [Monday]
GS 2075 – The work of the General Elections Review Group [Monday]
[See also GS Misc 1164 below]
GS 2076 – The Archbishops’ Council’s Budget [Monday]
GS 2077A – Food Wastage, A note from The Revd Andrew Dotchin
GS 2077B – Food Wastage, A note from The Secretary General [contingency business]
Other Papers
Questions Notice Paper [Friday]
Church Commissioners Annual Report 2016 [Friday]
GS Misc 1158 – Proposals for the pastoral advisory group on human sexuality and the development of the teaching document [Saturday]
GS Misc 1159 – Interim Report on the Review of the Crown Nominations Commission [Sunday]
GS Misc 1160 – Instructions on Electronic Voting
GS Misc 1161 – Report of the Meissen Commission
GS Misc 1162 – Code of Conduct
GS Misc 1163 – Clergy Wellbeing, A note from The Secretary General [Sunday]
GS Misc 1164 – Presentation by the Elections Review Group [Monday]
GS Misc 1165 – Clergy Discipline Commission
GS Misc 1166 – Signature of PMMs
GS Misc 1167 – Members of Councils, Boards and Committees
GS Misc 1168 – Summary of Decisions from the House of Bishops
GS Misc 1169 – Update on the Archbishops’ Council Activities
GS Misc 1170 – Resourcing Ministerial Education
House of Laity
HLA1 – House of Laity Agenda [Saturday evening]
HLA2 – House of Laity Agenda (if an Article 7 reference is required)
House of Clergy
Convocation of Canterbury Agenda (if an Article 7 reference is required)
Convocation of York Agenda (if an Article 7 reference is required)
Notable in GS 2064:
“The Church Commissioners may make grants out of their general fund to the Archbishops’ Council for the purposes of the Council’s functions.”
This raises at least two questions.
What are the “Council’s functions”?
And what is the “general fund” of the Church Commissioners? Is it the same as their “investment fund,” which amounts to £7.9 billion?
To answer my own first question, here is the account that the Archbishops’ Council gives for itself: “Objects “The objects of the Council under the National Institutions Measure 1998 are to ‘co-ordinate, promote, aid and further the work and mission of the Church of England’. The Council seeks to do this by: “giving a clear strategic sense of direction to the national work of the Church of England, within an overall vision set by the House of Bishops and informed by an understanding of the Church’s opportunities, needs and resources; “encouraging and resourcing the Church in parishes and dioceses; “promoting… Read more »
Jeremy – There is no such thing as the Church of England’s annual budget. What the General Synod approves is the budget of the Archbishops’ Council (and it will be asked to do this on the Monday afternoon). Synod has no direct control over the Church Commissioners. It does have indirect influence, eg via the Commissioners that are elected by Synod. It can also pass Measures (subject to parliamentary approval) to alter the Commissioners’ functions as it did when it gave the Commissioners power to spend capital on clergy pensions. I have added a link to the Commissioners’ 2016 report… Read more »
Peter, the Church of England itself says that Synod “approves the annual budget for the work of the Church at national level.”
If that’s the same thing as the Archbishops’ Council’s budget, then good.
I assume that these new grants would be part of that budget, so that Synod will have some say as to the use of a potentially large, and growing, stream of revenue.
Perhaps that question should be asked, if the answer is not already clear to those more knowledgeable than I about Synod.
Jeremy – yes that annual budget is the Archbishops’ Council’s budget. The Church Commissioners currently have no power that would enable them to apply their funds towards furthering the mission and work of the Church of England generally. The proposed new power for the Commissioners to make grants to the Archbishops’ Council will be considered as part of the debate on GS 2064. The is a miscellaneous provisions measure, and as such its provisions are supposed to be non-controversial. But these new grants would not be new money and would have to be taken from somewhere else, most likely the… Read more »
I have read GS1158 very quickly. My first thought is that this is just the same old same old. The documents show no development, no committment to change, no empathy, no sensitivity. And as for the lists of the various participants, where are our voices? NO DISCUSSION ABOUT US WITHOUT US. This will not do, the bishops have learned nothing and the whole project is already dead in the water.