Synod observer (3)

Dave Walker visits General Synod

Our third and final day of General Synod began with  a presidential address by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Next the Synod considered new proposals concerning safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, arising from an investigation into procedures in Chichester Diocese.

Next up was a return to yesterday's legislative business concerning PCC meetings (which hadn't quite been completed), before the Synod debated a motion from Southwark Diocese on environmental issues which passed by a huge majority.

Next was lunch and I attended a fascinating fringe meeting on research that has been done among a thousand families who have had children baptised in the Church of England. The project is aiming to examine how families understand baptism and how the mission opportunities of baptism ministry can be baptised.

Currently 1 in 6 children born in England are baptised in by the Church of England.

That works out at about 2,200 baptisms every week. Add all the guests coming along in support and you have a huge group of people visiting a church service just for baptism services. The big question is what we make of the opportunity.

After lunch we had two Private Members Motions (motions by individual Synod  members that had attracted the necessary 100 signatures from other members in order to be debated on the floor of the chamber). The second of these - on clergy vesture (ie can robes be dispensed with on occasions) - was postponed until the next meeting, but first we debated the change to the Girl Guides Promise.

Formerly, girls promised to 'love my God and serve the Queen' Now they still serve the sovereign, but God gets no mention, instead they pledge 'to be true to myself.' Not only is this not the same as believing in God, it is, as some people said, almost the opposite of believing in God (as Christians understand it).

They were plenty of Guiders in the public gallery for this debate and I would say a higher incidence there of knitting than normal during debates. It was a good debate with several synodical Guiders speaking up for the positive influence Guiding had had on their spiritual lives.

After a debate which attracted a flurry of points of order, synod by a large majority affirmed its belief that girls should still be able to promise to love God.

After that we had a presentation on the Pilling Report on Human Sexuality. Questions could be asked of the author but this was just an initial airing of a subject that will return in due course..

It was them time to go home.

Synod reconvenes in July at the University of York.