THIS week, I have wept trying to process the saddest General Synod meeting that I have attended as a member. We began the meeting remembering the late Geoffrey Tattersall KC, a much loved Synod chair (News, 7 January). Then, as members travelled back to their dioceses, we discovered that Clive Billenness, a tireless advocate for survivors of abuse, had never made it home: he collapsed and died at the airport.
During the sessions themselves, we heard the pain of survivors, shared with us. Then, debates on how we vote for commissions and committees, disappointingly, felt like a political proxy. It is tempting to despair rather than look for the good in our Church of England.
But there is always hope. I never expected to be moved almost to tears by the debate on new national governance structures. And then bishops stood up and spoke about the inherent wonder of the cure of souls.
Bishop-baiting may have sadly become something of a synodical sport at times. But, amid the mix of debate and Standing Orders, the Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd Martin Gorick, spoke to the gloriousness of “the care and the cure of all the souls in your parish — the good and the bad, residents, workers, visitors, each one a soul known and loved by God to be entrusted with — that is a gift beyond words.”
As a lay person, it can be easy to consider the cure of souls as a traditional term for “pastoral care”. It is much more than that; and nor is it just about being willing to hatch, match, and dispatch when asked.
It is a holy duty to care for the souls of everyone in the parish — to seek lovingly to cure them — to bring them into reconciliation and right relationship with God. This cure — this care — is at the heart of who we are as a Church. In a world that increasingly offers well-being “quick wins”, instead, our clergy (including bishops) offer this care over the long haul — for years, even decades. This is evangelism, discipleship, and Christian service expressed for, and in, every local community.
My soul is weary and sad this week. I don’t know what the future holds for our Church. But I know that the friends I grieve are with Jesus, and that everyone in this country can continue to know that there is a priest whose job it is to pray for you and to walk with you — to bring you into right relationship with God.
Whatever this week has brought, there is hope for each soul — and hope for our Church.
Rebecca Chapman is a General Synod member for Southwark diocese.
Angela Tilby is away.
Podcast: Reflections on a long and difficult General Synod