This page was last updated on 1 March 2025.
Official Lists of the Committees and Commissions of the General Synod
Peter Owen, Liverpool, UK (peter@peterowen.org.uk)
The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England
The Appointments Committee of the Church of England
The Crown Nominations Commission
The Business Committee of the General Synod
The Church Commissioners for England
The Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament
updated 15 January 2025
| Joint Presidents (ex officio) |
The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of York The Most Revd & Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell |
| Five other ex-officio members | Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury The Venerable Luke Miller (London) Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of York The Revd Kate Wharton (Liverpool) Chair of the House of Laity Canon Dr Jamie Harrison (Durham) Vice-Chair of the House of Laity Mrs Alison Coulter (Winchester) one of the Church Estates Commissioners (appointed by the Archbishops) Mr Alan Smith, (the First Church Estates Commissioner) |
| Two Bishops elected by and from the House of Bishops |
The Rt Revd Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich The Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, Bishop of Portsmouth (elected Nov 2023) |
| Two Clerks in Holy Orders elected by and from the House of Clergy |
The Ven Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes (elected Nov 2023) The Revd Dr Ian Paul |
| Two lay persons elected by and from the House of Laity |
Dr Rachel Jepson Mr James Cary |
| Up to six persons appointed by the Archbishops |
Mrs Maureen Cole Revd Charlotte Cook Mr Joseph Diwakar Mr Matthew Frost Mr Mark Sheard Mr Carl Hughes (from 1 Oct 2023) |
| Secretary General | William Nye |
| Vision & Strategy | Directors: Dave Male & Debbie Clinton |
| Central Secretariat | Director: Simon Gallagher |
| Faith & Public Life | Director: The Rev Dr Malcolm Brown |
| Cathedral & Church Buildings | Director: Emily Gee |
| Education | Director: The Revd Nigel Genders |
| Ministry Development | Director: The Rev Canon Nicholas McKee |
| Human Resources | Director of People and Change: Christine Hewitt-Dyer |
| Legal Office | Director: The Revd Alexander McGregor |
| Communications | Director: Hannah Howard |
updated 24 June 2022
| Chairman appointed by the Archbishops | The Ven Pete Spiers (Liverpool) |
| one bishop elected by and from the House of Bishops |
vacant |
| three clergy elected by and from the House of Clergy |
The Revd Canon John Dunnett (Chelmsford) The Revd Andrew Moughtin-Mumby (Southwark) The Revd Canon Dr Andy Salmon (Manchester) |
| three laity elected by and from the House of Laity |
Mrs Rebecca Chapman (Southwark) Mrs Lucy Doherty (Portsmouth) Mrs Sarah Finch (London) |
| two members of the Archbishops' Council | Dr Rachel Jepson (Birmingham) The Ven Luke Miller (London) |
Secretary: Jenny Jacobs
updated 23 January 2025
Members for five years from 1 September 2022
| voting members | |
| ex officio | The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of York |
| three elected pairs of members of the House of Clergy of General Synod |
The Revd Claire Lording (Worcester) and The Revd Joanna Stobart (Bath & Wells) The Revd Paul Benfield (Blackburn) and The Revd Canon Andrew Cornes (Chichester) |
| three elected pairs members of the House of Laity of General Synod |
Ms Christina Baron (Bath & Wells) and Miss Debbie Buggs (London) and Miss Prudence Dailey (Oxford) |
| six members of the Vacancy-in-See Committee of the diocese whose bishopric is to become, or has become, vacant |
|
| ex officio non-voting members | |
| the Archbishops' Appointments Secretary | Mr Stephen Knott |
| the Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary | Mr Jonathan Hellewell |
For each vacancy one member of each clergy and lay pair will serve on the CNC.
Normally one of the Archbishops presides at meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission.
Where the Commission is to consider the vacancy of the Archbishopric of Canterbury or York the person to preside shall be an actual communicant lay member of the Church of England appointed by
and this person shall be a voting member of the Commission.
For a vacancy in the Archbishopric of Canterbury the number of members from the diocese of Cangterbury will be three. In addition five representatives of the Anglican Communion will be voting members.
updated 8 Feb 2022
| Chair elected by and from the Synod | Canon Robert Hammond (Chelmsford) |
| one bishop elected by and from the House of Bishops |
The Rt Revd Martin Gorick, Bishop of Dudley |
| three clergy elected by and from the House of Clergy |
Fr Paul Cartwright (Leeds) Revd Mark Ireland (Blackburn) Revd Jody Stowell (London) |
| three laity elected by and from the House of Laity |
Mr Clive Scowen (London) Mrs Michelle Obende (Chelmsford) Mr Nic Tall (Bath & Wells) |
| appointed by the Archbishops’ Council |
Mr Joseph Diwakar |
Secretary: Dr Jacqui Philips (Clerk to the Synod)
updated 1 March 2025
official list
| Chairman: The Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| The Archbishop of York | The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell |
| Church Estates Commissioners (appointed by Her Majesty) |
Alan Smith, First Church Estates Commissioner [from 1 Oct 2021] Marsha de Cordova MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner |
| Church Estates Commissioners (appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury) |
Sir Robert Buckland, Third Church Estates Commissioner [from 14 March 2025] |
| elected by the House of Bishops |
The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol The Rt Revd Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury The Rt Revd Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich The Rt Revd Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester |
| elected by the House of Clergy |
The Revd Preb Dr Amatu Christian-Iwuagu (London) The Revd Sarah Geileskey Revd Christopher Smith |
| elected by the House of Laity |
Mr Richard Denno (Liverpool) Dr Nick Land (York) Dr Cathy Rhodes (Sheffield) Mr Robert Zampetti (London) |
| elected by the Deans | The Very Revd Mark Bonney, Dean of Ely The Very Revd Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester |
| nominated by His Majesty | Suzanne Avery Mr Christopher “Kif” Hancock [from 1 Jan 2023] Duncan Owen [until 31 Dec 2022] Mr Nigel Timmins [from 3 April 2021] |
| nominated by the Archbishops | Morag Ellis KC Remi Olu-Pitan Busola Sodeinde Helen Steers Mark Woolley [vacancy] |
| State office holders | The First Lord of the Treasury The Lord President of the Council The Lord Chancellor The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The Speaker of the House of Commons The Speaker of the House of Lords |
The Board of Governors comprises all the Church Commissioners except for the State office holders.
updated 15 January 2025
Members from the House of Commons
| Name | Party | Constituency |
| Catherine Atkinson MP | Labour | Derby North |
| Juliet Campbell MP | Labour | Broxtowe |
| Tom Collins MP | Labour | Worcester |
| Jonathan Davies MP | Labour | Mid Derbyshire |
| Marsha De Cordova MP | Labour | Battersea |
| Patricia Ferguson MP | Labour | Glasgow West |
| Zöe Franklin MP | Liberal Democrat | Guildford |
| Danny Kruger MP | Conservative | East Wiltshire |
| Luke Myer MP | Labour | Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland |
| Dr Al Pinkerton MP | Liberal Democrat | Surrey Heath |
| David Smith MP | Labour | North Northumberland |
| Rebecca Smith MP | Conservative | South West Devon |
| Sarah Smith MP | Labour | Hyndburn |
| Dan Tomlinson MP | Labour | Chipping Barnet |
| Martin Vickers MP | Conservative | Brigg and Immingham |
Members from the House of Lords
| Name | Party or affiliation | Type |
| The Rt Hon the Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE (chair) | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Earl of Cork and Orrery | Crossbench | Excepted Hereditary |
| The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Baroness Eaton DBE DL | Conservative | Life peer |
| The Lord Faulkner of Worcester | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Glenarthur DL | Conservative | Excepted Hereditary |
| The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port | Labour | Life peer |
| The Baroness Harris of Richmond DL | Liberal Democrat | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Jones | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Lisvane KCB DL | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Shinkwin | Conservative | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | Labour | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE | Conservative | Life peer |
| vacancy |
From the UK Parliament website