Happy New Year

While most of us are still crawling out of our snowdrifts and attempting to return to normality, almost unnoticed the outline Synod agenda for February has appeared. You can access it here, and in due course the full agenda and more paperwork will appear on this page.

There are several items of interest on it - both in terms of presence and absence. Notable for its absence is any legislation concerning the consecration of women as bishops. Given the smoke signals over the last few months this is no real surprise, but I doubt that whoever is doing the presentation mentioned in the outline agenda will get an easy ride. Present we have no less than four Private Member's Motions (all pedants please feel to comment on the position of the apostrophe) at least two of which might cause something of a stir. It will be interesting to see the reaction to the motions calling for recognition of ACNA and equal pension provisions for clergy widows/widowers and surviviors of civil partnerships. There might also be some controversy over the TV coverage of religious issues.

Also present is a large amount of legislative business (a symptom of the fact that we are drawing near to the end of the quinquennium) and four Diocesan Synod motions. I am not sure about the background to any of these, and no doubt more will appear in due course, but Manchester's motion about the compatibility of Science and Christian Belief could provoke some debate, and I am intrigued by Chelmsford's 'Confidence in the Bible' motion. In fact, the more I think about that particular title, the more I wonder...

Justin (GS 373)