archbishops
Justice (Windrush Legacy and Commitment, Feb 2018 – passed unanimously by Synod and covered positively in the national press) – some have credited this debate with the steps which led to Lament to Action and the establishment of the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission, and then the new Racial
Member of Archbishops’ Council
I am therefore pleased to serve on the Archbishops’ Council Investment Committee which makes social investments, in enterprises which align with Christian values and seek to alleviate need for those in most difficulty.
I am also a member of the Archbishops’ College of Evangelists.
I have been on the Archbishops’ Council during difficult periods, particularly over safeguarding failures and the resignation of Archbishop Justin.
As a trustee of the Archbishops’ Council I have supported the mechanism to provide funds for survivors in urgent financial need (the Interim Support Scheme).
I am a trustee of St John’s College with Cranmer Hall in Durham University, as well as serving as trustee on the St Nicholas Durham PCC, the Durham Diocesan Board of Finance, the Archbishops’ Council, and Safe Spaces England and Wales.
As a member of the Archbishops’ Council, I actively ensure our diocese is strongly represented at the highest national level, and I’m asking for your vote to continue to serve you on General Synod.
Member of the Archbishops’ Council
• Archbishops’ Council: Elected lay member (2020 &
I took a supporting role for the motion brought by Chelmsford diocese which asked the Archbishops’ Council to consider a code of conduct for PCC members.
Campaigning and bringing pressure to bear on both the Church Commissioners and Archbishops
At national church level I have been a member of General Synod for nearly 10 years, and continue to serve as a session chair (appointed by the Archbishops).
Working with the Archbishops’ Council and Pensions Board, this led to a Private Member’s Motion, brought by myself and James Blandford-Baker, which passed unanimously last year.
We need to ensure that Parishes get the support that they need from both the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council.
I will continue to scrutinise financial decisions made by the Church Commissioners, The Archbishops Council and the House of Bishops and advocate for investment that enables parish ministry to flourish.
Until 2024, I served as a Member and Trustee of its Assets Committee (£11.6bn) having been re-appointed by the Archbishops, where I took a strong interest in ethical and green issues, as well as advocating that The Church of England goes carbon net zero to safeguard God’s creation.
Having successfully proposed the adoption of the Armed Forces Covenant with the support of both Archbishops offering pastoral, welfare and spiritual support for the Armed Forces Community, I continued as Armed Forces Champion for The Church of England with
Archbishops’ Council.
My experience on Synod, including past service on the Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee and on occasion the Crown Nominations Commission, has given me insight into the workings, demands and challenges of the national church and there are some key issues to be faced during this coming Synod.
Committee of the Archbishops Council.
Since 2016 I have served on the Archbishops'
I have been a member of the Deanery Synod the Diocesan Vacancy in see committee, The patronage board, The Archbishops Council and the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee.
I back the ongoing work of the Archbishops' Racial Justice Commission.
This aimed to help clergy (and others in tied accommodation) apply for school places before they move post, and despite strong opposition from both Archbishops and the central church bodies it passed by a clear majority.
Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee, the Diocesan Finance
Having retired from a career in industry, I have sought to use my professional experience at General Synod by serving in additional ways, including on the Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee and the major Diocesan Finance Review team (see overleaf for more details, including thoughts on some key issues for the next General Synod).
Mission and Finance (the two go together!): In my time on Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee and the major Diocesan Finance Review team, we significantly increased funding to maintain the witness of churches in poor areas, and increased support for missional projects to reach people who do not yet know Jesus (the majority of these projects are parish-based).
I was elected from General Synod to the Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee (ACFC), which oversees some £250m of annual expenditure.
If elected, I will work to ensure that, staying true to the Archbishops’ vision, local churches are properly resourced, that parish ministry remains the primary focus of evangelism, and that any changes to church structures strengthen rather than weaken the parish system.
(Archbishops’ Council)
Alongside full-time parish life, I have served as Chair for the House of Clergy on Ely Diocesan Synod (2014 – 2018) before being appointed to the Bishop's staff (2014) as Diocesan Adviser for Women in Ministry (DAWM) and to the Archbishops’ College of Evangelists (2023).
The issue of governance reform, including the role of the Archbishops’ Council, will need to be addressed following the failure of the proposed Governance Measure to obtain parliamentary approval.
• Elected member of the Archbishops Council Finance Committee.
• Through General Synod I was elected to serve on the Archbishops Council Finance Committee,
• To support the Archbishops in keeping their pledge to support the parish as the best means of
It is prized well beyond those who attend church on a Sunday, and has been spoken of passionately by bishops and archbishops.
Most recently I have been working as part of a subgroup of the Archbishops’ Council Committee for the Ministry of and amongst Deaf and Disabled People and, over the past five years I have spoken in General Synod on a range of issues, including: Disability and the inclusion of disabled people within the Church; Prayers of Love and Faith and the welcome of LGBTQ+ people; The full acceptance and inclusion of neurodivergent people.
I worked in Mission & Pastoral, Central Secretariats for both the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council, the Diocese Commission and Mission & Public Affairs (supporting bishops in the House of Lords on matters relating to marriage, children and families).
Support the archbishops’ commitment to keeping the parish system.
Archbishops’ Council’s Committee for Minority Ethnic
Then, for twelve years I worked at Church House, Westminster in: the Ministry Division; the Archbishops’ Commission on the Organisation of the Church of England; the Statistics Unit; and the House of Bishops.
I thank God that the majority of the £230m spent in 2025 by the Archbishops Council went to support the mission of dioceses and parishes but we do need to ensure that in the next quinquennium this funding does not become less parochially facing.
I admire both our Archbishops and deplore the treatment they sometimes receive at the hands of the media.
Remuneration and Conditions of Service Committee of the Archbishops’ Council and of its successor, the Advisory Group for the Terms and Wellbeing of Ministers.
Synod, The House of Bishops and The Archbishops’ Council and importantly engaging with victims and survivors.
Inclusivity and differing convictions: As I hope is obvious from what I say about the nature of the Church as ‘paroikia’ (and from what many of you know of me), I am firmly convinced that the Church of England has a considerable way to go before it can claim to be demonstrating the ‘radical Christian inclusion’ spoken of by previous Archbishops.
On Archbishops’ Council, I repeatedly challenged the decisions being made about stipends and pensions, and in the end decided the only way to change this was through a Private Members’ Motion in Synod.
As a member of the Archbishops’ Council and the Audit Committee for ten years I have been very
This rolling into CENS included the Archbishops Council and new access to Church Commissioners funds, and a swathe of reforms to the roles of the Second and Third Church Estates Commissioners.
The diocese will be aware that under the brave leadership of our archbishops the motion to “hear” the cries of Palestinian Christians as described in the document called Kairos II was passed.
Archbishops Council
amendment motion on racial and disability justice funding was only defeated on a vote by Houses but was supported by the majority of Synod and voted for by both Archbishops, even though one of them opposed the amendment during the debate.
Subsequently, the full amount I had proposed for disability justice funding was approved by Archbishops Council.
• To support the archbishops in keeping their pledge to support the parish as
It is valued far beyond those attending church on a Sunday, and is spoken of passionately by bishops and archbishops.
6 Years of Experience on the Archbishops’ Council In 2019, I was elected to represent the House of Laity on the Archbishops’ Council, where I had to learn how all of the National Church Institutions operate and profoundly affect life in the parishes.
My work on the Archbishops’ Council contributed to the focus on resourcing and equipping for children and young people who are turning to the Church for roots, stability and guidance in ever greater numbers.
Board), and as a member of the Archbishops’ Advisory Group on for Appointments and Vocations.
As part of that role, I am a trustee of the Archbishops’ Council, and sit on multiple other committees including the Rule Committee, the Legislative Committee, the Standing Orders Committee, the Business Committee, and more.
The chair of the Archbishops’ Council’s Finance Committee, Carl Hughes, told General Synod: “Establishing the review has taken longer than the Council hoped and intended, and I am sorry for that.
The Archbishops have called on the Church of England to be “Simpler, bolder and humbler”.
In recent years this fund has been used by the Archbishops of Canterbury for purposes of the Archbishops Council.
I’ve represented you in the Diocese of Liverpool for the last six years, and have been elected by Synod members to represent them on Archbishops’ Council.
As a member of Archbishops’ Council, I’m particularly involved in the long term financing of the Church of England.
I attend all Archbishops’ Council meetings as a Participant Observer and am the appointed Vice Chair of the Dioceses Commission which reviews diocesan boundaries and approves suffragan bishop vacancies.
We will soon start another National Triennium Funding Review and I will represent the views of the Diocese back to Archbishops’ Council and Synod.
Archbishops Ministry Savings Steering
My time on the Archbishops’ Council Audit and Risk Committee taught me that simplistic responses will not do.
• Elected as one of the two lay representatives to the Archbishops Council’s Audit
• Invited by the archbishops to be a member of the Implementation and Dialogue
• Appointed by the archbishops to the panel of chairs of General Synod (2019-2023)
I support the proposed Clergy Charter of Care which advocates, inter alia, an immediate halt to clergy cuts (which have resulted in part due to the change in funding from the Archbishops’ Council), and manageable benefices.
8 Winchester Diocese 2023, 2024 & 2025 Annual Accounts 9 Summary of 42 Diocesan Accounts, Save The Parish Network, 2024 10 Archbishops Oversight Committee, 2022, Sir Robert Chote report.
We go back as far as Faith in the City (1985) and recently we have had the Report of the Archbishops’ Anti- Racism Taskforce: From Lament To Action!
I also believe – consistent with the foregoing – that along with a slimming down of diocesan bureaucracies, structures such as the Church Commission and Archbishops’ Council need to be democratised.
I've asked 30 questions on matters from safeguarding to racial justice, finance, governance and ministry. I've offered 14 speeches in debates on: assisted suicide, codes of conduct for lay officers, disability, funding priorities, governance, LLF, national care service, neurodiversity, poverty, racial justice, representation, safeguarding, and the value of work. I was elected by Synod to the Committee for Ministry of and among Deaf & Disabled People (CMDDP), a sub-group of the Archbishops' Council.
I would like Synod to build on the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households and its Love Matters report.
That is set by the Business Committee of Archbishops’ Council which tries to please everybody.
For the past several years I have served on the central Legislative Reform Committee, which oversees the progress of church legislation through the Synod on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council.
My theology degree and previous experience working for two Archbishops means I can engage with Synod debates fluently, and I’m willing and able to speak truth to those in power at any level.
3 years working for a parish church Worked for two Archbishops of Canterbury Theology graduate & Trained counsellor
It also authorises Liturgies and provides scrutiny for the Archbishops Council and others of the National Church Institutions (NCIs).
Let’s use it for what it was intended, not wasting it on Archbishops’ Councils and other fripperies!
I would seek to use my experience to bring continuity to the work I have been involved with, which includes: Vice Chair of the House of Laity and Chair of the Archbishops’ Council: In 2021, I was elected Vice Chair of the House of Laity for General Synod.
This has allowed me to shape the Synod agenda as part of the Business Committee, to be called to speak regularly in our debates, and to become a member of the Archbishops’ Council.
I am the Archbishops’ Council representative on this Board setting up the new independent safeguarding authority for the Church of England.
I understand how the Diocesan Board of Finance works, and I understand the governance of the Church of England as Chair of the Archbishops’ Council and Vice Chair of the House of Laity.
That led to the whole Living in Faith and Love process and the expressed hope of the archbishops for a ‘radical, new inclusion’.
The full manifesto can be read here: www.savetheparish.com, but in the main it seeks: 01 To support the archbishops in keeping their pledge to support the parish as the best means of evangelism.
It also authorises Liturgies and provides scrutiny for the Archbishops Council and others of the National Church Institutions (NCIs).
I serve on the Legislative Reform Committee of the Archbishops Council.
From 2021 to 2024 I was a member of the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission which gave me good insights into how the Church works nationally.
With my election by General Synod members to the Risk and Audit Committee of the Archbishops’ Council and then, recently, to the Archbishops’ Council itself, I am beginning to contribute much more to the work and direction of the Church of England and feel more able to serve.
Member of General Synod and consequently a member of Diocesan Synod Member of the Risk and Audit Committee of the Archbishops’ Council Member of the Archbishops’ Council Current chair of the Diocesan Vacancy-in-See Committee
Chair of Archbishops’ College of Evangelists
That’s why the Archbishops invited me to Chair the College of Archbishops’ Evangelists, which I have done since 2024.
• a financial crisis for the dioceses, Archbishops’ Council, Church