The Church of England General Synod will meet in London from Monday 11 February to Thursday 14 February. The official press release is here and starts:
Major debates on detention without charge, mental health issues and casinos will be on the agenda of the General Synod when it meets at Church House, Westminster, from Monday, February 11, to Thursday, February 14, 2008. There is a large programme of legislative business, the most substantial item being the Revision Stage of the Clergy Terms of Service legislation. Synod will have further opportunity to debate the Anglican Communion Covenant and Senior Church (Crown) Appointments, following earlier debates in July 2007, and there will also be a focus on Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue.
We will be linking to the full agenda and online papers as these become available. There is an outline agenda which you can download here or read online here.
“Major debates on detention without charge, mental health issues and casinos will be on the agenda of the General Synod when it meets at Church House, Westminster, from Monday, February 11, to Thursday, February 14, 2008.”
But not on the nature of the church itself? The covenant will not be a major debate? The role of gays in the clergy and laity? The status of the diocese vs. the province?
While I applaud the CoE in taking on certain issues of public policy, putting them ahead of its own polity seems to a bit cart before the horse.
Pat
It’s a press release. It’s trying to attract the attention of the outsiders, i.e. secular journalists. The majority of the time of the synod will in fact be devoted to internal church matters. But they don’t interest the general public nearly as much.
More details to follow very soon, but yes there will be a Take Note debate on the Covenant draft that the CofE submitted. The other issues that you mention may come up but are not the subject of specific motions to be debated this time.
Simon:
Maybe it’s because I’m an American, but I know in this country, the press would be far more interested in the church’s stand on gay rights and the threatened schism over them than in any toothless statement it might make about prison policy, mental health or gambling.
Again women passed over for political expediency…