Notes
All votes are given in the form "votes for"-"votes against". Where no figures are given the vote was taken by a show of hands.

Amendments to motions are not, in general, included. Motions are given in their final form, after any successful amendments.

carried

That this Synod endorse this Report and approve the recommendation contained in paragraph 7.

[The recommendation was that Mark Russell be appointed a member of the Archbishops' Council.]

Amending Canon No 26 (GS 1484B)
Canon for Promulgation
(Finally approved at the July 2004 Group of Sessions)

(a) celebrate the Church of England's historic and current commitment to the work of the Higher Education sector in its diversity;

(b) instruct the Board of Education to engage further with the public debate on values and purposes;

(c) (i) believe that Higher Education is properly concerned with a broad understanding of education and with the development of the whole person; and

(ii) call on Her Majesty's Government and Higher Education institutions to recognise this explicitly and to identify ways in which it can be most effectively put in practice.'

(d) encourage Chaplains as key instruments of God's mission, working with and within their institutions;

(e) agree that the Church of England should seek ensure, where appropriate, that each Higher Education institution is served by at least one whole time Church of England chaplain, to work with ecumenical and multi-faith partners; and

(g) encourage the Board of Education to prepare a resource guide on good practice for Chaplains and lay Anglicans working in universities and colleges.'

That this Synod support a change to the Church Representation Rules by requiring that candidates seeking election to the House of Laity of the General Synod, who produce election addresses for distribution to electors, as permitted by Church Representation Rule 39(6), shall include in such addresses details including a brief resume of the aims and policies of any Church related organization, society, movement or association to which they belong or support or are affiliated, either directly or through parochial links, and which could affect their voting intentions in General Synod in matters of doctrine or ecclesiology in order to ensure transparency for electors.

That this Synod

(a) welcome in general terms the recommendations summarized on pages 1 to 7 of the Report (GS 1564) but with grave reservations about recommendations v, ix, xxiiif and xxiiig;

(b) commend the report to the dioceses and the wider Church and ask dioceses and other interested parties to submit comments by the end of July 2005 to the implementation group referred to in (c) below; and

(c) request the Archbishops' Council to appoint an implementation group to follow up the recommendations in the report (taking account of the responses from dioceses and other interested parties both to this report and to the earlier report (GS 1527) on the first phase of the work) and to bring forward legislation based on those recommendations as early as possible in the next quinquennium.

That this Synod approve the recommendations set out in paragraph 12 of GS 1561.

That the Synod do take note of this Report.

That the Synod welcome the report from the House of Bishops (GS 1568) and invite the Business Committee to make sufficient time available at the July group of sessions for Synod to determine whether it wishes to set in train the process for removing the legal obstacles to the ordination of women to the episcopate.

That the Synod do take note of this Report.

That the liturgical business entitled Common Worship Ordination Services be re-committed to the Revision Committee for further revision of the Declarations (pages 7, 29 and 54-5) to provide for an additional declaration establishing the ordinands' commitment to collaborative ministry.

That the liturgical business entitled Common Worship Ordination Services be re-committed to the Revision Committee for revision of page 13 line 1, page 20 line 3, page 37 line 1, page 44 lines 11- 12, page 63 line 1 and page 70 line 24 to replace the expression "The Liturgy of the Eucharist" with "The Liturgy of the Holy Communion".

That the liturgical business entitled Common Worship Ordination Services be re-committed to the Revision Committee for further revision so as to require the Giving of the Bible to take place, in one of the forms envisaged, immediately following the Ordination Prayer.

That the liturgical business entitled Common Worship Ordination Services be re-committed to the Revision Committee for further revision of 'The Ordination of Deacons' and 'The Ordination of Priests, also called Presbyters' to require the Declaration of Assent to be made publicly.

That this Synod endorse the analysis in GS 1569 and agree in particular that the desired improvement in the overall quality of CME 1-4 should be pursued by setting expected learning outcomes nationally while keeping responsibility for funding with the dioceses.

[Synod voted to adjourn the debate, so no vote was taken.]

(a) welcome the report from the House (GS 1570) accepting the principles set out in the Windsor Report;

(b) urge the Primates of the Anglican Communion to take action, in the light of the Windsor Report's recommendations, to secure unity within the constraints of truth and charity and to seek reconciliation with the Communion; and

(c) assure the Archbishop of Canterbury of its prayerful support at the forthcoming Primates' Meeting.

[The chair of the debate refused to allow the motion to be divided, so I was unable to vote against (a), but for (b) and (c).]

"(c) in the light of paragraph 3.7.2 of the FOAG response to the Windsor report annexed to GS 1570, which refers to the requirement of Lambeth 1.10 that Anglicans should listen to the experiences of gay and lesbian people, urge the Primates to take practical steps to create a climate of safety within the Churches of the Communion in which lesbian and gay people can speak of their experience and theology without fear of reprisal within those Churches and that will allow voices to be heard across national and provincial boundaries in the Communion, especially in countries where homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment;"

and re-letter the remaining paragraph accordingly.

(i) consider that the Church should adopt an integrated and consistent method for the making of appointments to senior ecclesiastical office (other than diocesan bishops) to ensure that all appointments are transparent and encourage the confidence of the Church in the procedures that support the final selection; and

(ii) request the Archbishops' Council to commission a working party (to be chaired by a person independent of the Council and the Synod) to review and make recommendations (without limitation) as to the law and practice regarding appointments to the offices of suffragan bishop, dean, archdeacon and residentiary canon, including: -

(A) the role and practice adopted by diocesan bishops in the making of nominations to suffragan sees; and

(B) the role of the Crown in the making of appointments to the other senior Church offices referred to above and how it is discharged,

and for the Archbishops' Council to report back to the Synod within eighteen months of the date of this debate.

(a) commend Sharing God's Planet as a contribution to Christian thinking and action on environmental issues;

(b) challenge itself and all members of the Church of England to make care for creation, and repentance for its exploitation, fundamental to their faith, practice, and mission;

(c) lead by example by promoting study on the scale and nature of lifestyle change necessary to achieve sustainability, and initiatives encouraging immediate action towards attaining it;

(d) encourage parishes, diocesan and national Church organizations to carry out environmental audits and adopt specific and targeted measures to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources and ask the Mission and Public Affairs Council to report on outcomes achieved to the July 2008 group of sessions;

(e) welcome Her Majesty's Government's prioritising of climate change in its chairing of the G8 and its forthcoming presidency of the European Union;

(f) urge Her Majesty's Government to provide sustained and adequate funding for research into, and development of, environmentally friendly sources of energy; and

(g) in order to promote responsible use of God's created resources and to reduce and stabilise global warming, commend to

(i) the consumers of material and energy, the approach of 'contraction and convergence'; and to

(ii) the producers of material and energy systems, safe, secure and sustainable products and processes based on near-zero-carbon-emitting sources.'

Peter Owen
last modified 21 February 2005
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