“DISCIPLINES of prayer”, liturgy, and contemplation of scripture were the “wellsprings” of faith, the Archbishop of York said in his presidential address to the General Synod on the Friday.
Research on recent growth in church attendance appeared to show a particular increase in attendance at “churches that offer a depth of tradition”, along with those that were “becoming more diverse”, he said.
Referring to the Bible Society’s report Quiet Revival (News, 11 April), the Archbishop suggested that there was a “more spiritually aware generation of younger people exploring faith”.
The Church of England, he said, needed to respond to this by “renewing the catechetical life of the Church so that each of our churches and all our parishes really is a school for disciples where people receive, experience, and learn the way of Christ”.
That Friday was an appropriate day to remember this, he said, because it was the feast day of St Benedict — “the father of Western monasticism” — who had written of establishing “a school in the Lord’s service”.
Christians, Archbishop Cottrell said, should be “enchanted and transformed by what God has done in Jesus Christ” and “offer the world a narrative shot through with hope: hope for salvation in Jesus Christ”.
The Archbishop also spoke about assisted dying, first by implication, and then explicitly. “My understanding of the dignity and value of every life and every moment of life comes directly from my Christian faith,” he said.
“When we lose something as foundational as decisions over life and death, we are in danger of losing other safeguards and provisions as well,” he said, before thanking the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, and other bishops in the House of Lords for their “principled and persistent opposition” to the Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill (News, 27 June).
The agenda as originally drawn up had been amended to include an item on assisted dying on Tuesday, he said. The Synod had previously debated the topic in 2022, when it voted by a large majority to support the ban (News, 15 July 2022).
On the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, “we seem no nearer a settlement which will hold us together,” Archbishop Cottrell said. He suggested that this showed the unity of a “common baptism” and “common hope”. “We do not let go of each other. How many other organisations would go this far with such disagreement?”
Later, in response to a question, Archbishop Cottrell said: “We don’t seem any nearer a settlement” on LLF, but that “whatever we decide, it’s not going to stop or go away,” as “this is people’s lives” that were being discussed. “This is the work we must do,” he said.
Archbishop Cottrell thanked the Church Commissioners for “their groundbreaking witness in transition pathways on climate change”, and for the work of Project Spire.
Read more reports from the General Synod digest here