THE General Synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion from the diocese of Winchester which calls on the Archbishops’ Council to amend the Terms of Service regulations on rest periods for office-holders — to entitle the clergy to 36 hours of rest in every seven-day period, including an uninterrupted rest period of 24 hours.
The motion was brought by Alison Coulter (Winchester), on Saturday afternoon. She told clergy: “You are a precious resource. . . Our priority is to care for you.” Rest was fundamental to well-being, “part of our God-given pattern of life”, she said.
The latest report from the ten-year Living Ministry research project had revealed one quarter of incumbents to be suffering from poor mental health, and not getting enough rest contributed to this (News, 23 February). One had described his appointment to a benefice with seven churches as “the worst time in my life”.
There was no obstacle in the current regulations to the “modest increase” proposed, which would allow clerics to take more than a 24-hour break each week, Mrs Coulter said. “We want to encourage wider discussion of what is realistic. It’s a small but important step, which I ask you to support.”
Professor Lynn Nichol (Worcester), a clergy wife for 37 years, wryly hoped that the motion could be backdated to 1987: she had calculated that more than two years of time off would be owing. It was about “principles, practicalities, and permission”, she said: “The requirement for a six-day working pattern is ingrained in the Church of England. This would give clergy explicit permission to look after themselves.”
The challenge to take time off in a parish was more complex than a legislative one, Denis Tully (Southwell & Nottingham) suggested. Priests had to manage a range of often conflicting expectations, “most coming from within, which can be a distillation of all the external expectations”.
Dr Simon Clift (Winchester) referred to “unmanageable workloads and unrealistic job descriptions. . . I ask [clergy], if I looked at their diaries, would I see time blocked off for self-care? We are called to minister from [a position of rest], not aiming towards it until we collapse.”
Sam Atkins/Church TimesAlison Coulter (Winchester) moves the motion
The Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. Mark Ireland (Blackburn), moved an amendment that would affirm the sabbath “as a time to cease and delight, part of God’s creation, a life-giving gift”. “A day off catching up on to necessary tasks is not a sabbath day,” he said. The amendment was friendly, intended to “inject a little gospel joy and theology”, he said.
Mrs Coulter accepted the amendment. “The words give helpful context,” she said.
Sandra Turner (Chelmsford) appreciated the broad scope of the amendment: “God kindly gave us his pattern of work and rest because he knows what is good for us.”
The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, who has just returned from study leave, said that, since the motion was trying to achieve a culture change, the amendment was very appropriate. “We have much work to do to bring about that cultural shift. We are particularly vulnerable to an assumption that everything relies on us.”
The Revd Jody Stowell (London) wanted to enlarge the understanding of sabbath as “a state into which we are invited for the whole of our lives. . . Sabbath should be part of our entire working week.”
The Archdeacon of Leeds, the Ven. Paul Ayers (Leeds), said that there was “no obstacle to taking rest when we when we needed it within the current rules, unless out of ignorance, or [lack of] self-management. We should be careful about wanting to become normal employees.”
Canon Andrew Dotchin (St Edmundsbury & Ipswich), who referred to the clergy’s inclination towards a “Messiah complex”, said: “Much as I love this call, I could too easily become a slave to it.” He urged Synod members to “Check on your local cleric when they are planning their down time, and check they’re doing it.”
The vote on the amendment was carried. Archdeacon Ireland then moved his second amendment, which appended the word “Sabbath”, so that the request read: “to include an uninterrupted Sabbath rest period of not less than 24 hours”.
Mrs Coulter accepted the amendment.
The Revd Steve Wilcox (York) reflected on the need to “think about the nature of rest so that our church cultures can be healthier. . . We often think we rest from work, but we work from a place of rest. Let’s address our underlying culture.”
The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, wholeheartedly supported the amendment: “Let’s make a tangible difference straight away. The motion intends to bring about a change in culture.”
The amendment was carried.
An amendment brought by the Revd Lindsay Llewellyn-Macduff (Rochester), on Zoom, provoked a good deal of debate. It sought to increase the 36-hour period to 48 hours. The motion as it stood was objective, and set a minimum standard, she said, but it was theological and vocational, so not wholly helpful to frame within employment law.
“We need real time out in order to flourish and so that people around us can flourish. . . Let’s not be miserly. Let us be a cornerstone in our Church advocating a model of life that is not just about achieving stuff, but resting [in God],” she said.
Mrs Coulter resisted the amendment, “It risks the motion failing. We may be asking more of lay people than of clergy,” she said.
The Revd Martin Thorpe (Liverpool) acknowledged lived experience of poor mental health through overwork, saying that 48 hours would enable clergy to have the sabbath day’s rest: one of the Ten Commandments. “Clergy often make a virtue of breaking this,” he said.
Canon Lisa Battye (Manchester) liked the idea of two days, with one for reflection.
The Revd Eleanor Robertshaw (Sheffield) was concerned about self-supporting ministers, and others with more than one job. “Be careful we don’t sound a little bit entitled,” she said. “In the wider world out there, people are doing two jobs to survive.”
The amendment was lost.
An amendment from the Revd Christopher Johnson (Leicester) sought to add a paragraph calling on the Ministry Development Board to support Diocesan Directors of Ordinands, theological colleges, and dioceses to provide education and resources on rest for clergy.
Mrs Coulter resisted it as “complicating and cluttering the simple motion”.
The amendment lapsed without debate.
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, took issue with Ignatius for his prayer entreaty to “toil and not to seek for rest”. Such cultural models as this were unsustainable, he said. He also objected to words like sacrificial — Jesus had already made the the sacrifice. “Let this be just the start,” he said. “I will be looking for a much better deal for parish clergy.”
Synod voted for the motion, as amended, by 336 to three, with six recorded abstentions:
That this Synod, recognising that
- Sabbath, as a time to cease and to delight, is part of God’s plan for humankind and for all creation and is modelled by God in Genesis 2: 1-3;
- a weekly Sabbath rest is a life-giving gift of God and important for the well-being of all people;
- a day off spent catching up on necessary tasks is not a Sabbath day;
request that the Archbishops’ Council lay before it for approval draft Regulations amending the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Regulations 2009 so that an office holder is entitled to not less than 36 hours (a day and a half) of rest in any period of seven days, to include an uninterrupted Sabbath rest period of not less than 24 hours, but so that the statement of particulars of office may continue to specify that any rest period may not be taken on or include a Sunday or any or all of the principal feasts of the Church of England or Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.