On Sunday afternoon Synod debated a report Review of Constitutions (GS 1737) that proposed replacing most Church of England central boards and committees by a lead person supported by a small reference group.
Canon Dr Christina Baxter (Southwell and Nottingham), who chaired the group that produced the report, moved:
‘That this Synod
(a) welcome the further report of the Constitutions Review Group (GS 1737);
(b) endorse the recommendations set out in Annex 1 of the report; and
(c) invite the Archbishops’ Council and the Standing Orders Committee to take the steps necessary to give effect to those recommendations.’
Dr Philip Giddings (Oxford) moved as an amendment:
Leave out all the words after “That this Synod” and insert
“(a) decline to endorse the proposals set out in GS 1737; and
(b) request the Archbishops’ Council, after consultation with the boards and councils concerned, to produce revised proposals which:
(i) provide for the participation of elected Synod members in deliberation and policy-formation as well as in scrutiny and accountability; and
(ii) reflect the individual remits and sets of stake-holders of each area of activity.”
Dr Giddings’ amendment was carried on a show of hands.
As a result the substantive motion became:
That this Synod
(a) decline to endorse the proposals set out in GS 1737; and
(b) request the Archbishops’ Council, after consultation with the boards and councils concerned, to produce revised proposals which:
(i) provide for the participation of elected Synod members in deliberation and policy-formation as well as in scrutiny and accountability; and
(ii) reflect the individual remits and sets of stake-holders of each area of activity.
The amended motion was then carried on a show of hands.
Note: The report GS 1737 is not available online.
This result is good news. The proposals sought to save money by cutting down meetings but seriously cut down on the amount of scrutiny of the various departments in the National Institutions.
A particular case in point was the proposal to get rid of the Council for Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Advisory Group. Both of these groups do enormous amounts of specialist work that if it were not done by synodically elected/appointed volunteers would have to be done by more paid staff.