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General Synod digest: Voice of the young welcomed

12 July 2024

Sam Atkins/Church Times

A group of young people address the Synod

A group of young people address the Synod

THE General Synod made a commitment to the practicalities of welcoming the voice of young people and “intentionally hearing and responding to their voice on at least one substantive item of business in future groups of sessions”.

It was the final debate on Tuesday before prorogation. The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, who chairs the National Society, introduced a presentation from children and young people from Archbishop Holgate School, in York, and the Archway Learning Trust in Nottingham.

He reminded the Synod that it had passed a motion in July 2023 for greater engagement with the voices of children and young people, and which called for further development work with young adults. The presentations sought to “model the methods the Synod could deploy to hear and act upon their voices” in the move towards becoming a younger and more diverse Church.

Pupils spoke confidently of the need to “prioritise, resource, and adapt”. They presented the findings from a recent survey commissioned from the National Younger Leadership Groups, which showed a positive perception of Church as particularly “welcoming, spiritual, and holy” as opposed to “scary, disappointing, and unfriendly”: “somewhere you can talk about anything and everything”.

The survey had found, for example, that 62 per cent of pupils disagreed with the statement that young people were not wanted in church; 89 per cent thought that giving young people the opportunity to lead in church would help it to flourish.

A video was shown in which children expressed what they had enjoyed about coming to church, which included a young chorister from South Africa, and a boy who said that he was “inviting lots of friends to HTB Youth”. They spoke enthusiastically of Bubble Church and Minecraft Church, described by one as “a potent mix of fun and scripture” and by another as “a community of Christians I can turn to”. For one, baptism had been “like Jesus met me right there in the water”.

Students of the Archway Learning Trust spoke warmly of initiatives such as After School Church as “a safe place and sanctuary” attended by hundreds of pupils. An older pupil from one of the C of E secondary schools had been able to “think about how my faith can apply to my life”, and had “valued the open space to work and pray across the week”.

There was applause when a pupil said: “We’re not asking for a seat at the table. We deserve a seat at the table. Without a seat at the table, we might become just the menu.”

Sam Atkins/Church TimesA group of young people address the Synod. The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, can be seen (back left)

Bishop Frost said that he wanted to present the motion with the children standing behind him. The Synod, he assured the pupils, wanted not just to hear, but to act on what young people were saying. He referred to a picture of the feeding of the 5000, in which “the adults were looking to the problem, but the child was looking to Jesus”. It needed “long-term, savvy, consistent engagement”, he said. “We need to get serious about delivery.”

In the debate that followed, Samuel Wilson (Chester), in a maiden speech, said to the young people: “I desperately, desperately wish you were here all the time to be allowed to be a brash voice when you need to be, or the calm voice when you need to be.” He challenged Synod members: would they be prepared to give up their seats to allow younger people to take them?

Shermara Fletcher (Guest Ecumenical Representative), Churches Together in England, attested to the profound impact that support and investment in youth leadership had had on her. She was proud to have read at the Queen’s funeral, and thankful for the experiences that she had had and the opportunities she had been given. She looked forward to the Church’s commitment to include young people in its synodical processes.

The Revd Dr Sara Batts-Neale (Chelmsford) warmly welcomed the presentations, but sounded a note of unease at what she detected might have been a possible level of adult over-management in the language of the reports that the children had given: she would have liked to have had more openness to the Spirit so that they were able to speak in the moment.

Kenson Li (UKME co-opted) voiced his disappointment and impatience that the progress to include young people in the chamber had been slow. The proposals were heavy on school engagement, he said: he wanted to see children from diverse backgrounds engaged. He had been co-opted as one of five young Synod members. It had been a year since the Synod voted to engage with young people, and “we haven’t seen a route map yet,” he said in exasperation. “The voice of Global Majority Heritage young people is lacking in this room. . . How many young voices are we not hearing because we are not giving them the chance? The proposal is not bold or humble enough. We can do better.”

Emily Hill (Hereford), the youngest member of Synod, spoke of the imperative to attract and keep young people. “They are not trophies to be brought out and paraded,” she said. “It shouldn’t be about us. They need to gain something and be enriched by the agenda proposed.” With reference to the statistics of the presentations, she wanted to ask what percentage were church attenders, and how many did not have a faith. “Please don’t let it be so managed that we don’t hear the voice of young people outside the church.”

The Revd Dan Leathers (Liverpool) recalled 19 years earlier speaking to the Synod as a representative of the Church of England Youth Council. “The council listened to me as a young person, and that made me commit my life to listening to young people,” he said.

The Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, had confirmed more than 600 young people. She told the young people present: “I place a seed in them. I tell them, ‘One of you here will be called by God to serve the Church.’ You’ve been an inspiration. I want to encourage you to keep going. I preached my first sermon when I was 14.”

Sam Atkins/Church TimesThe Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, who is the lead bishop for education

Billy-Jo O’Leary (Rochester) described the young people as “a beautiful illustration of a generation doing intergenerational mission well”. Why, she asked, was this the last part of business for the Synod, when many members had already had to depart? “It should have been the first and last call.”

The Revd Dr Charlie Bell (Southwark) said that it was a truism to say that young people were the Church’s future — “It’s obvious.” The Church was called to be diverse, he said, rejoicing in the diversity of the choristers at his church of St John the Divine, Kennington. “I’ve found choristers so receptive to the sacraments, so receptive to the scriptures soaking into them — living their faith as young people in everyday life. The Church sees the Christian life as involving all of God’s people, in the whole and in the round.”

Robert Hammond (Chelmsford), who chairs the Business Committee, apologised for the timing of the debate, which had been determined by when the young people could be present. “The Business Committee will always support the incorporation of young people into our debates,” he promised. It would be “a substantial item on our next meeting”.

The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Debbie Sellin, urged the Church to go beyond church schools to partnering together.

Bishop Frost concluded: “We hear you and we value you.”

A vote on the motion was carried by a show of hands:

 

That this Synod:

(a) welcome the voice of children and young people as part of the church of today and commit to intentionally hearing and responding to their voice on at least one substantive item of business in future groups of sessions, employing a range of presentational activities, including surveys, reports, live presentations and videos; and

(b) welcome the work being done across the whole church to become ‘younger and more diverse’ ensuring every child in every parish has access to a flourishing youth, children and families’ ministry.

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