Queen has approved the nomination to the Suffragan See of Reading: 15 July 2019
Queen approves nomination of the Venerable Olivia Josephine Graham to the Suffragan See of Reading.
Published 15 July 2019
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Olivia Josephine Graham, BA, Archdeacon of Berkshire, in the Diocese of Oxford, to the Suffragan See of Reading, in the Diocese of Oxford, in succession to the Right Reverend Andrew John Proud, BD, AKC, MA, who resigned on 1st May 2019.
The Oxford diocesan website has more details. The new bishop will be consecrated on 19 November 2019.
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4 CommentsOrder Paper 6 – Tuesday 9 July morning – details of the final day’s business
Synod members’ blogs
Andrew Nunn Heading home
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap I’m going home…
0 CommentsThe Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) is responsible for providing the prime minister with the names of candidates to be diocesan bishops in the Church of England. The current rules are that the CNC must provide two names and place them in order of preference. Recent prime ministers have agreed to always submit the first name to the Queen. The second name is then only required if for some reason the first choice becomes unavailable.
But each of the two names must be supported by two-thirds of the CNC members. So if the CNC is able to agree on a first name, but not on a second it has to reconvene and start again, even though the second name is rarely required.
General Synod was therefore asked to amend its standing orders so that the Crown Nominations Commission
i) Submit one name to the Prime Minister, subject to the support of two thirds of the voting members of the Commission in a secret ballot; and
ii) May agree on a second name if they so wish, also subject to the support of two thirds of the voting members of the Commission in a secret ballot as a reserve candidate.
The submission of one name will not therefore be dependent in any way on the agreement of a second name.
Synod agreed to these changes yesterday afternoon and they will come into effect on 10 July 2019.
The first meeting to be affected by these changes will be next week. The CNC will be having its second meeting (the one at which the names are chosen) for the forthcoming vacancy at Hereford on 15/16 July 2019.
There is a paper explaining these changes in more detail: GS 2144.
34 CommentsOrder Paper 4 – Monday 8 July morning
Order Paper 5 – Monday 8 July afternoon
Order Paper 5b – Monday 8 July afternoon
Press releases from the Church of England about items from today’s business
General Synod backs expansion in new forms of church gatherings
News reports
Laura FitzPatrick The Telegraph Monks and nuns to be recognised by the Church of England for first time since Reformation
Synod members’ blogs
Andrew Nunn Cathedral-shaped church
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap I went down to the sacred store
Stephen notes that the Archbishops’ Council Annual Report is not available on the Church of England’s website. But the Council is a charity and its annual report is available here on the website of the Charity Commission.
1 CommentUpdated Monday morning
General Synod members attended the 10 am Sung Eucharist at York Minster, where the Archbishop of Canterbury preached this sermon.
Order Paper 3 – Sunday 7 July afternoon – details of the day’s business
Press releases from the Church of England about items from today’s business
Presentation from lead safeguarding bishop, Peter Hancock
Synod backs further steps towards communion with the Methodist Church
News reports
Laura FitzPatrick The Telegraph Contactless collection plates used in York Minster for the first time
John Blow Yorkshire Post Archbishop of York attends his last General Synod in the city
Madeleine Davies, Tim Wyatt and Adam Becket Church Times Bishop Hancock challenges the Synod on safeguarding
Christian Today Church of England has a ‘long way still to travel’ on safeguarding
Madeleine Davies, Tim Wyatt and Adam Becket Church Times Division over Anglican-Methodist plan prompts Synod to decelerate process
Christian Today Church of England moves towards communion with the Methodist Church
Synod members’ blogs
Andrew Nunn Cautious steps
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap Together we can make it happen; wait and see
6 CommentsUpdated Sunday morning and evening
Order Paper 2 – Saturday 6 July morning – details of the day’s business
Archbishop of York’s presidential address
Synod passed this motion on responding to serious youth violence.
That this Synod, recognizing that Serious Youth Violence affects the whole community;
a) call upon the National Church Institutions to recognize the opportunity the Church of England has to contribute to understanding of Serious Youth Violence and strategies to prevent it and to make available resources for those affected;
b) call upon Diocesan Boards of Education to recognize how the use of Exclusions impacts on serious youth violence and encourage alternative provision;
c) call upon dioceses to resource:
i) information about locally based resource and support networks, and training for church leaders in best practice for supporting those affected by Serious Youth Violence, including gun and knife crime,
ii) partnership work with statutory organizations and wider civil society to provide pastoral care for people affected by serious youth violence.
There were 315 votes in favour, none against and no recorded abstentions. None of the three amendments in the order paper were passed.
Synod is not sitting on Saturday afternoon. Instead members are invited to attend a series of seminars on The Living in Love and Faith Project and the Pastoral Advisory Group.
Update
There are two press releases from the Church of England about items from this morning’s business.
Synod unanimously backs call to act on serious youth violence
Synod votes to adopt Covenant on Clergy Care and Well-Being
Press reports
Madeleine Davies Church Times Our Church is too addicted to sound-bites, Archbishop of York tells Synod
Christian Today Church of England has become an ‘echo-chamber instead of interpreter’ on issues of human sexuality – John Sentamu
Madeleine Davies, Tim Wyatt and Adam Becket Church Times Synod votes for collaborative efforts to stem youth violence
Press Association (via the Belfast Telegraph) Church vows to play proactive role in tackling violent crime
Laura FitzPatrick The Telegraph Church of England schools urged not to expel pupils amid rise in youth violence
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Bishop calls for Church of England schools to minimise exclusions
Christian Today Church of England clergy to be offered mentoring and coaching to support improved wellbeing
Christian Today Church of England commits to doing more to stop serious youth violence
Synod members’ blogs
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap Take good care of yourself
Andrew Nunn And / Or
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Cornel Wilde Anglican Ink The English, the evangelicals and the elites: The school for scandals
12 CommentsOrder Paper 1 – Friday 5 July – details of the day’s business
Questions and Answers
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap I know there’s an answer
a summary of the day’s business
Christian Today Church of England schools must safeguard different views on gender and sexuality, says bishop
2 CommentsThe Church of England’s General Synod meets in York this weekend from today until Tuesday.
Stephen Lynas bathwellschap A bridge over troubled water
Stephen’s usual excellent introduction to this week’s business
Madeleine Davies Church Times Anglican Catholic Future raises concerns about Methodist proposals
“Conference’s backing same-sex marriage is now another issue”
[See our earlier article on this topic here.]
Synod ‘lazy and incurious’ about safeguarding scandals
Gabriella Swerling The Telegraph Church of England will condone gay couples for first time – as long as they were man and wife when they took vows
Steve Doughty Mail Online Church of England will allow husbands and wives to stay married after one changes gender, giving their blessing for same-sex marriages in major departure from traditional views
[This refers to question 86 here.]
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian C of E to recognise religious communities for first time in centuries
There are links to the Synod agenda and papers here. Synod opens at 2.30 pm today and you can view the live feed here.
0 CommentsThe booklet of Questions and Answers to be taken at the Church of England’s General Synod this weekend is now available for download. It includes both the general questions to be taken on Friday, and those regarding safeguarding to be taken on Sunday. Since the answers are published in advance neither they nor the questions will not be read out, but members will have the opportunity to ask supplementary questions.
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9 CommentsPress release from Number 10
Suffragan Bishop of Dover: 28 June 2019
Queen approves appointment of the Reverend Prebendary Rose Hudson-Wilkin to the Suffragan See of Dover.Published 28 June 2019
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the appointment of the Reverend Prebendary Rose Hudson-Wilkin, BPhil Ed, Hon LLD, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and Priest in Charge of St Mary-at-Hill, in the Diocese of London to the Suffragan See of Dover, in the Diocese of Canterbury, in succession to the Right Reverend Trevor Willmott, MA, who resigned on 31st May 2019.
Rose was born and raised in Jamaica. She was educated at Montego Bay High School for Girls and later at Birmingham University. She trained with the Church Army and was commissioned in 1982 as an Evangelist; she later trained for ordination at Queens Theological College on their part-time course, ordained deacon in 1991 and ordained priest in 1994 serving her title at St Matthew’s Church, Willenhall Road in the Diocese of Lichfield.
For sixteen and a half years she served as a priest in Hackney (Holy Trinity with St Philip, Dalston and All Saints, Haggerston). In 2007 she was appointed as a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen and in 2010, she became the first woman appointed to the position of the 79th Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons. In November 2014, she took on the additional responsibility as Priest in Charge of city Church, St Mary-at-Hill near Monument. She is an Honorary Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral and a Priest Vicar of Westminster Abbey.
She has previously served as a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and also as one of the Panel of Chairs of the Synod. She has twice represented the Church of England at the World Council of Churches (in Zimbabwe & Brazil); she served as its priest representative on the Anglican Consultative Council for 9 years. She also served as a Selection Secretary for the Church of England, helping to select men and women seeking to test their vocation to the ministry. She does numerous preaching and speaking engagements nationally (and occasionally overseas). She was a member of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and has wide experience of media engagement including some religious broadcasting.
She is married to The Reverend Kenneth Wilkin, a Prison Chaplain and they have three adult children.
The Canterbury diocesan website states that her consecration will be on 19 November 2019.
21 CommentsPress release from the Church of England
Church of England response to IICSA’s report
27/06/2019The Church of England has published today its response to IICSA’s report on the Chichester diocese and Peter Ball case studies. This is ahead of next week’s wider IICSA hearing on the Anglican Church in England and Wales.
The timetable for the first week of the IICSA hearing on the Anglican Church in England and Wales is available here.
7 CommentsThe Church of England announced yesterday that Bishop Chris Goldsmith is to become its next Director of Ministry. The bishop is currently the suffragan Bishop of St Germans in the diocese of Truro, so that post will become vacant when he takes up his new position in September 2019.
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110 CommentsUpdated Saturday
General Synod meets in York next month and the Church of England issued its usual pre-Synod press release this morning, and this is copied below the fold. It concentrates on one item (youth violence and knife crime).
Madeleine Davies in Church Times has a fuller preview of the Synod agenda: Synod to focus on youth violence and knife crime.
There are two other Church Times articles.
Invest in refugees, Synod motion proposes
Synod will be asked whether it ‘gladly bears’ eucharistic presidency by Methodist presbyters as ‘temporary anomaly’
Update
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Church of England urged to offer haven from knife crime
Izzy Lyons and Laura FitzPatrick The Telegraph Churches should become knife crime sanctuaries with weapon amnesty bins, General Synod to discuss
17 CommentsUpdated Thursday
The Church of England issued the following press release today.
Safeguarding Data Report 2015-17
19/06/2019
Safeguarding data has been published today taken from annual safeguarding returns, collected by dioceses from 2015-17 and sent to the National Safeguarding Team. This is the first time that trends have been analysed over a three-year period.
The Church of England consists of more than 16,000 churches across the country; with around 1.14 million adults and children making up the regular worshipping community. This means it comes into contact with vast numbers of children, young people and adults every day of the week and safeguarding them is a priority. The majority of safeguarding-related concerns or allegations relate to children or vulnerable adults who attend or who have contact with the Church and their lives within the community.
In any report about data of this nature, it is important to recognise that behind each statistic is a person. Safeguarding is about everyone’s wellbeing and means the action the Church takes to promote a safer culture; it is about valuing every person as made in God’s image.
Update
Press reports
Madeleine Davies Church Times Safeguarding reports grow by a half in two years
The full text of the MACSAS (Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors) press release referred to in this article is here.
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Church of England finds 50% rise in abuse claims and concerns
5 Comments
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Mandatory Reporting and the Church of England
Mark Clavier The Living Church The Church of the Introverts
3 Comments