General Synod of the Church of England
The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.
Church Assembly: 1919 to 1970
Before 1919, any change to the church's worship or governance had to be by
By means of the
The Act required that, after being passed by the assembly, the measure had to be examined by a joint committee of both Houses of
General Synod: from 1970
Establishment
By the Synodical Government Measure 1969,[5] the Church Assembly renamed and reconstituted itself as the General Synod of the Church of England. It also took over almost all the powers formerly exercised by the Convocations of Canterbury and York.
Membership
The synod is
. There are currently 467 members in total.The House of Bishops is made up of the 30 diocesan bishops in the Province of Canterbury, the 12 diocesan bishops of the Province of York, the Bishop of Dover (who functions as diocesan bishop of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury), and seven other suffragan bishops (four from Canterbury and three from York) elected by all suffragan bishops.
The House of Clergy comprises clergy elected from the following:
- 128 from the dioceses of the Province of Canterbury,
- 54 from the dioceses of the Province of York,
- 4 from among clergy teaching in universities or theological colleges. One must be from the Province of York (this arrangement replaced seats for specific universities as of the 2015 election),
- 6 ,
- the 3 principal Anglican (and Archdeacon), and
- 2 members of religious communities.
Members of the
- up to 170 members elected by the laity of the Province of Canterbury,
- up to 80 members elected by the laity of the Province of York,
- the Dean of the Arches,
- the Vicars-Generalof the Provinces of Canterbury and York,
- the three Church Estate Commissioners,
- the Chairman of the Central Board of Finance,
- the Chairman of the Church of England Pensions Board,
- the members of the communicantsof the Church of England.
There are two or three synodical sessions per year (4–5 days each), one or two in
Functions
The functions of the synod are:
- legislation:
- to approve the liturgy and make other rules and regulations through Acts of Synod,[9]
- to regulate relations with other churches,
- to consider and express their opinion on any other matters of religious or public interest, and
- to approve or reject the annual budget of the church
Measures or canons must be passed by a majority of the members of each house of the synod. Most other business can be passed by a majority of the members of the synod overall. However changes to church
The General Synod also elects some members of the Archbishops' Council.
See also
- Doctrine Commission: In existence between 1922 and 2010. Latterly commission of General Synod
- Enabling Act: Includes brief background of reasons which led to the act being passed
- English Covenant
- Faith and Order Commission: Replaced Faith and Order Advisory Group in 2010
- List of Church of England measures
- Houses of Laymen
References
- ^ Garbett, Cyril. The Claims of the Church of England Hodder & Stoughton:1947, pp.192f
- ^ Iremonger, F.A. William Temple, OUP:1948, p.273
- ^ Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 (1919 c.76 9 and 10 Geo 5) on the UK Statute Law Database website – retrieved 9 May 2008
- ^ a b Neill, Stephen. Anglicanism Penguin:1960, p.437
- ^ "Synodical Government Measure 1969". 1969. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- Chaplain-in-Chief, or their Anglican deputies if the most senior chaplain is from a different denomination
- ^ 7th Edition of the Canons of the Church of England - retrieved 2 June 2019
- ^ It was through an amendment to the Canons that women were admitted to the priesthood – Canon C4B (now repealed and replaced by new Canon C4). The making of the Canon was authorised by the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 (now repealed and replaced by the Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014).
- ^ For example, the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993 Archived 27 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved 9 May 2008) formerly made provision for those parishes which would not accept women priests to be overseen by alternative bishops. It has been replaced by the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests (GS Misc 1076) (retrieved 2 May 2019).
- ^ Constitution of the General Synod, set out in Schedule 2 of the Synodical Government Measure 1969
- ^ Gumbley, K F W (July 1994). "Church Legislation in the Isle of Man". Ecclesiastical Law Journal. 3: 240.
External links
- Official website
- Short film shown at General Synod in November 2015 to portray the Church of England