THE "unspeakable evil" perpetrated against religious minorities
in Iraq and Syria will be detailed in a presentation given to the
General Synod this month.
On 18 November, the Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher
Cocksworth, will moderate a panel including the General Bishop of
the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, Bishop Angaelos; and Dr Fuad
Nahdi, the executive director of the Radical Middle Way, which
promotes a "mainstream, moderate understanding of Islam".
The General Secretary of the Synod, William Fittall, said last
Friday that this would be, to his knowledge, the first time that a
Muslim had addressed the Synod.
In the afternoon, the Synod will hear a report from the Council
for Christian Unity on the final report of the Joint Implementation
Commission (JIC) on the Anglican-Methodist Covenant. The Synod will
be invited to endorse the recommendations, which ask the two
Churches to reconcile their ministries with a view to
interchangeability.
Mr Fittall spoke of a "sense of frustration" that
interchangeability had yet to be achieved. The issues to be
resolved, including the move towards episcopacy in the Methodist
Church, were "pretty core issues", he said. But the JIC "has in
effect said: 'Now is the time to decide whether we are going to
sort these out or not.'" The opening of the episcopate to women
addressed one of the Methodists' concerns, he said; so it was
"timely" to bring the Covenant to the November group of
sessions.
There will also be a debate on a diocesan synod motion from the
former diocese of Bradford on the spare-room subsidy, known as the
"bedroom tax". This notes "concerns" about the impact of the
policy, and calls on the Mission and Public Affairs Council to
evaluate research into this, and promote "ways of ensuring access
to suitable local housing for all".
Legislative business includes final-approval debates on the
Draft Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (Amendment)
Measure, and the Draft Church of England (Ecclesiastical Property)
Measure.