ON Wednesday, the Synod voted to "strongly encourage" all Church
of England institutions to pay "at least" the living wage. John
Freeman (Chester), proposing the motion, said that if the Church
paid less than this, "why should the world take any notice of it
when it speaks out against other examples of economic
injustice?"
The Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu, congratulated Mr Freeman on
his motion, saying that one in five people in work in the UK was
not paid a living wage.
The Synod also debated whether children should be allowed to
administer holy communion. The Bishop of Southwell &
Nottingham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, said that allowing them to do
so was "a further way of recognising their full inclusion in the
Body of Christ and the life of the local church".
The motion, which amends Canon B12 and its regulations, was
clearly carried, although the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete
Broadbent, said that it raised "serious questions" about the status
of children.
On Monday, during a presentation on the meeting last month of
the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), in New Zealand, the
Archbishop of Canterbury disputed the idea that "the structure and
pattern of ACC meetings is designed to push to the margin some of
the more contentious matters in the Anglican Communion". The
"crucial point" was where such arguments were held. The networks of
the Communion represented some of the "most creative, most
universally supported" work.
Also on Monday, Synod heard that a diocesan synod motion from
Wakefield, calling for a "theologically informed national debate
about the organisational shape of the Church", would not be debated
until after the Synod had discussed and voted on the Dioceses
Commission's draft scheme for West Yorkshire.
A motion from Bradford diocese calling for more freedom over the
legal names of dioceses has also been put on hold, pending
resolution of the proposed new diocese of Leeds. The Archdeacon of
Dorking, the Ven. Julian Henderson, for the business committee,
said that a debate on the motions could "prejudice the formal
statutory process".
The Joint Safeguarding Liaison Group and the Clergy Discipline
Commission are jointly reviewing the interim report of the
Archbishop of Canterbury's visitation into safeguarding in the
diocese of Chichester, the Synod heard on Monday.
Also on Monday, the secretary-general, William Fittall, sprang
to the defence of the clerk to the Synod, Colin Podmore, who will
take up a post with Forward in Faith after his resignation next
year. Dr Podmore had carried out his work with "professionalism and
impartiality", he said, to spontaneous applause from the floor.