The March Synod took place on Saturday 22 March at Bishop Stopford School in Kettering.
The Revd Sue Fear and the Revd Jackie Bullen from Peterborough Deanery led our opening worship, starting with a time of remembrance for Frank Smith, a former Lay Chair of Peterborough Deanery.
Bishop Debbie then gave her Presidential Address, noting that her address at the March Synod a year ago was at the very beginning of her time in the Diocese, and she now felt at home.
Bishop Debbie reflected on the life of St Cuthbert meeting people of the edges of society, noting we now don’t have to go so far to find those who need of hearing the Good News, but the call on our lives remains the same. She spoke of the Diocesan Year of Prayer as a theme with no big projects, but an aim to encourage individuals to draw closer to God day by day. As part of this, Bishop Debbie shared the invitation to join the Mission Team on their Lent Courses either the Prayer course or Pilgrim Prayer course; to make use of the Thy Kingdom Come resources, and to pray together using the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, which has undergone a creative reinvention for this year. The plan is to produce a Deanery video every month to encourage people and to learn from what others are doing.
Bishop Debbie then moved onto speaking about safeguarding, referencing that our Diocesan Safeguarding Officer would be joining us to speak about our safeguarding audit, but also reflecting on the recent spate of stories about safeguarding across the church, including the Makin Report, the David Tudor case and the Bishop of Liverpool’s resignation. Bishop Debbie said that it’s horrific to read about all of this.
Whilst we are now much better than we were with processes and procedures, we need to work on our culture, to create a place where risk is reduced. Bishop Debbie mentioned that she was horrified at times at the weight her voice could carry and spoke of working hard to be measured in all that she says. We need to make sure that the voice of those in leadership does not lead to deference being an excuse for silence and be always mindful that we will often be in the presence of those who have suffered abuse. This will enable us to bring about a strong safeguarding culture.
Bishop Debbie then moved to speak about the current Governance Review. We have traditionally had a large number of committees, whilst where and when decisions are made has lacked clarity. This has all been examined and Bishop Debbie is expecting the report from the consultants at the beginning of April. The findings of this report will help build a more robust scaffolding on which we can build our strategy. We must begin to move in the right direction whilst this work is continuing as we need to help our churches to flourish in the face of the current decline.
This direction needs to be what is right for Peterborough Diocese, not just copying what others are doing. To this end Bishop Debbie has identified some key strategic themes for this year as follows; considering urban and rural ministry as two distinct areas with differing requirements, leadership development recognising that clergy need to be effective in leading ministry teams alongside lay colleagues, and building on what we are doing with children, youth and their families. She announced there will be a Rural Forum taking place in September as well as a capacity funded project looking at urban ministry starting in Peterborough.
After the Presidential Address, the reports from the Boards and Committees were presented with time given for round table discussions and feedback to be made to the floor. Comments were made on the resourcing of safeguarding, the impact of LyCiG, positive action that has been taken on clergy housing, and the communication about the role of the Diocese. Points were also noted on the disconnection between some of the work of the committees and the work on the ground, valuing our buildings, and how we can understand the work of the church through statistics.
After a short break Victoria Kellett, gave an overview of the Safeguarding Audit of the Diocese and the Cathedral which is currently being undertaken by INEQE as part of the national church response to the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Alexis Jay. This audit, which looks at Safeguarding across the whole Diocese is underway and the current activity is the 360 degree assessment until the end of April. Victoria encouraged all to take part through the online surveys explaining that only INEQE will see the responses. The in person visits from the INEQE team will take place from 30 June to 3 July.
The audit is an opportunity for us to show all the good work that is going on at parish level and Victoria encouraged anyone who had good examples of safeguarding, whether through projects, conversations or guidance to get in touch with the safeguarding team so these examples can be reflected in our responses to the audit team.
Andrew Presland, one of our General Synod Representatives then gave a thorough briefing on the latest Synod session which had a strong emphasis on safeguarding, but also covered working class vocations, an update on Living in Love and Faith, racial justice, the new Clergy Conduct Measure and the election of bishops.
The meeting concluded with our Lay Chair, Chris Banks reminding everyone of the lay vacancies that exist on both Diocesan Synod and Bishops Council.
There will be an addition Diocesan Synod that will take place on 9 July. This is the start of a new cycle of 3 Diocesan Synod meetings which will take place every year allowing for additional time to scrutinise financial plans before the budget is set, and this year, to discuss the Living in Love and Faith proposals from the national church.
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| Revd Allison Twigg, Chair of the House of Clergy | Chris Banks, Chair of the House of Laity |
To see full minutes of the meetings, details of your Synod Reps, and information on the standing orders, please see our Diocesan Synod page.