Synod met online on a bright but windy Saturday morning.
The agenda included:
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
“We live in a new missionary situation, where most people grow up knowing very little about the Christian faith and having virtually no experience of the church. There is much we can learn from the first evangelisation of England, and particularly from the Anglo-Saxon Saints of the North, and the movements of mission that shaped our land and gave birth to the church that we’ve inherited.
“Their flexibility and sacrificial approach to mission; the way they established intentional communities of prayer; and their willingness to be vulnerable and to go to people where they were inspires us today.
“In this way, we will renew our parishes and therefore renew our diocese. But there will be a focused attention on the local; on service to the local community; and on evangelism, sharing with others the good news we have received and therefore paying attention to our own receiving. Hence the really important work on Rhythm of Life that we have introduced this year.
“We then learn to share the story of Christ that we have been called to live.”
Read Archbishop Stephen’s full Presidential Address at bit.ly/presaddress2307.
JOHN SPENCE
John outlined to Synod the background and impetus of the changes in the Church Commissioners’ funding for the dioceses of the Church of England over the last decade, with a change of emphasis from maintenance towards promoting growth, and resourcing policies to underpin sustained growth in the future.
Half an hour of questions to John followed:
Could he cite any particularly good examples of rural outreach? John said he couldn’t cite any particular examples, but this is a shared challenge across the church, and the Diocese of York’s ‘Revitalise’ programme for churches needing support to grow was very important.
Is there a prospect of more funding support for Chaplaincy (particularly in higher education)? Chaplaincy should be integral to future mission and ministry planning in the church, said John, which will be the focus of future funding from the Church Commissioners through the Strategic Investment Board.
How do the Church Commissioners, on behalf of the national church, determine current spending levels against the need to maintain capital for the future? John sketched the Commissioners’ historic responsibility for the funding established in the early 18th Century through to the integration of Glebe and other property in order to create a funding stream for the Church of England into the future. While the capital cannot be spent, he said the successful management of the funds in recent decades continues to release large sums to support the church from year to year, while the capital itself now stands at about £10bn. “Without the Church Commissioners, that money would have gone,” he said.
Should we plan in the expectation of continuing funding from the Commissioners, or should we be aiming for our own sustainability? Sustainability means just that, said John, and ideally the Commissioners’ funding should be released for where it’s needed most.
What’s the most important thing about the future to tell our churches in the face of cynicism and distrust? The future is not all about finances, said John, and the distrust is very sad—we can say that the Archbishop of York and the whole national church leadership is totally committed to the future (although they recognise the continuing cost of Covid), and that the church remains very strong and able.
QUESTION TIME
Following publication of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith report and proposals, the Revd John Telford had submitted a question asking what support was planned to help churches pastor and look after same-sex attracted people who, holding a traditional biblical understanding of marriage and sexual relations, have chosen to remain celibate and single or are happy in opposite-sex marriages.
Archbishop Stephen replied that as a diocese we continue to be committed to offer care to everyone, regardless of how they identify or to whom they are attracted, primarily through local churches. The coming introduction of ‘Living in Love & Faith Listeners’ in the diocese will offer opportunities for all who wish to talk these issues through, together with the existing ministry of Diocesan Adviser in Pastoral Care the Revd Andrew de Smet, who with his team offers confidential support and counselling where needed.
LECTIO DIVINA
Synod broke into small groups to reflect briefly on Philippians 4:5-9, introduced by member David Millican.
LIVING CHRIST’S STORY
Diocesan Director for Strategic Transformation Sam Nicol introduced a paper giving a progress report and outlining the new governance structures and processes that will drive the implementation of the programme shaped by Deanery Plans and agreed by Synod in November 2022.
A Steering Group mainly comprising the Diocesan Leadership Team with senior members of the diocesan administration will ensure the effective leadership of strategy delivery, and stakeholder engagement and involvement; hold all parts of the strategy together in light of business as usual, and set the strategic priorities while securing and allocating resources to these. Major decisions will be referred to the Archbishop’s Council or Diocesan Synod as appropriate.
An Implementation Coordination Group at whose core will be the Suffragan Bishops, Archdeacons and a number of senior administration members will engage with other networks such as Area and Lay Deans, establish the models of change for and across the Diocese, to ensure collaborative working and coordination across the diocesan offices, archdeaconries and out to the deaneries and parishes. It will develop a robust, realistic and achievable implementation plan for delivering Living Christ’s Story that enables progress to be measured and communicated.
Questions arising from brief small-group discussion of the paper included concern that selected parishes might feel compelled to participate in the ‘Revitalise’ programme within the Growing Healthy Churches strand of Living Christ’s Story. It was reiterated that there is no compulsion; participation is by invitation and some parishes have already opted not to take part.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Finance Director Kathryn Rose updated Synod on the financial position of the Diocese this summer. While most of the 2022 results were outlined at the 22 April 2023 Synod, the Statutory Accounts were now complete. While unfavourable fluctuations in investment values contributed much of a £3.8 million deficit, stripping out the investments and one-off items including the sale of a closed school site, the overall financial result in 2022 was similar to 2021.
Expenditure on stipends (about £7 million), housing (over £2 million) and other staff costs (under £3 million) were mostly unchanged from 2021 despite inflation.
Readily realisable reserves fell from £9 million in 2012 to £8 million in 2022.
For 2023, expenditure is largely on the target set by the budget agreed by Synod in November 2022. While Free Will Offer payments from parishes to the Common Fund are slightly down against the budget expectations, some parishes have indicated that they may be able to increase their payments as the year continues. Kathryn believed the deficit for 2023 might be £1.9 million rather than the £2.6 million anticipated in the budget, but a deficit is a deficit, and the reserves are shrinking.
A motion that the Synod receive the Annual Report and Accounts of the York Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd for the year ended 31 December 2022 was proposed by DBF Chair Rodney Barton, and carried by an online vote of 99% with a 1% abstention.
OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS
The Annual Reports of other Committees had presented to Synod in advance (and may be downloaded from bit.ly/diosynpapers230701), and were approved as follows:
* in each case the remaining votes were abstentions; no votes against were recorded.
Download the above Synod papers at bit.ly/diosynpapers230701
NEXT MEETING
Saturday 18th November 2023 on Zoom.