On Sunday morning Synod members joined the regular congregation for the Eucharist in York Minster. The Archbishop of Canterbury preached this sermon.
Order paper 4 lists Sunday’s business.
Official summary of the day’s business
sound recordings
afternoon
Bishop of Chelmsford – CMEAC presentation
evening
Press release on the presentation by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns: Church should reflect reality of multi-cultural society [copied below the fold]
I too am CofE – video included in the presentation
Press preview
John Bingham The Telegraph Nine-year-olds allowed to administer Holy Communion under Church shake-up
[As well as looking forward to the final approval debate on Sunday, this article also looks back to the preliminary debate held on Friday.]
Press report
Andrew Brown The Guardian Church of England failing to promote minority ethnic clergy, says bishop
Church should reflect reality of multi-cultural society
12 July 2015
More needs to be done to promote the full inclusion and representation of minority ethnic Anglicans at every level of the Church of England, including the most senior clergy appointments, the General Synod heard today.
Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford,introducing a presentation to Synod by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) said it was “critically important” that the leadership of the Church of England at every level reflects the reality of a multi-cultural society.
“Quite simply, the leadership and ministry of the Church of England no longer looks like or adequately reflects the diversity and creativity of the communities it serves. This should be a huge concern and directly affects our credibility as a national Church and our mission,” he said.
“Until we look like the community we serve, not only are we denying ourselves of talent and insight, we are making the work of evangelism and service so much harder. That is why this work of inclusion and representation is unfinished business.”
His remarks were made after Synod members watched a video, part of a follow-up to the 2011 report Unfinished Business on inclusion and representation of minority ethnic Anglicans in the Church of England.
Those featuring in the film include Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Revd Jason Roach, and Sheila Root and Shay Prince, who are both lay members of the Church of England.
Bishop Stephen was joined by Dr Elizabeth Henry, CMEAC national adviser, the Archdeacon of Reigate, Danny Kajumba, Fr Paul Cartwright and Canon Linda Ali in a panel question-and-answer session following the presentation.
The discussion at General Synod followed the publication today of Everyone Counts, a congregational survey carried out in a sample of parishes as part of a long-term commitment to monitoring diversity within the Church.
From the Telegraph story–“Among concerns they cited was that ‘Children often lack the skills of co-ordination required to go through the tricky tasks of administering a chalice and this could lead to spillages and vessels being dropped.'” As a confirmed 7 year old and an acolyte, I regularly handled the Eucharistic vessels at a High Church parish in the U.S. without any issues, let alone reverence. I mostly served in a state of holy terror. And 25 years on, I’m still a tad clumsy with a chalice. I am a firm believer in the Real Presence of Christ in the… Read more »