THE temporary Standing Orders that allow members to take part in the General Synod sessions remotely, online, were converted into a permanent arrangement on the Monday afternoon.
Introducing the item, Canon Joyce Jones (Leeds), who chairs the Standing Orders Committee, reminded members that, during the pandemic, the Synod had rapidly created new Standing Orders to allow for online meetings for the first time. These had subsequently been rolled over beyond the end of social distancing to create hybrid Synods, so that those who were unable to attend in person could still join remotely.
As time had passed, it had become clear that this model was working well, she said. The Synod was, therefore, being asked to convert these into permanent Standing Orders to enable hybrid meetings to continue indefinitely.
The chair of the Business Committee, Robert Hammond (Chelmsford), said that the Business Committee “wholeheartedly” supported the motion. Members had been able to log in from cars, trains, hospital beds, and even New Zealand, he said, which opened the Synod up to those who could not always attend in person.
Adrian Greenwood (Southwark) also supported the motion. He requested that the chair update those in the chamber periodically on how many members were logged in online and so part of the debate.
John Wilson (Lichfield) thanked the audio-visual team for their efforts in facilitating the online part of the gathering.
The motion was carried. It read:
That the Standing Orders made on 9th November 2020 under section 1 of the General Synod (Remote Meetings) Measure 2020 (GS 2177) and revived on 5 February 2023 under section 3(6) of that Measure be revived and in operation for an indefinite period.’
Canon Jones then introduced another amendment to the Synod’s rules to increase the delegation of observers from the Church of England Youth Council from three members to five. Every diocese had been asked to identify young people who could take part, and to encourage others to stand for election.
Mr Hammond said that the Business Committee backed the change, and that the Synod had already “overwhelmingly” approved this in principle at last February’s meeting. “This is a no-brainer,” he said. He hoped that this would be the beginning of wider involvement of younger people in the life of the Synod.
Clive Scowen (London) welcomed the return of the C of E Youth Council to the Synod’s deliberations and backed the motion (and hoped that young adults were also involved in choosing who joined the youth delegation as observers).
The motion was carried. It read:
Standing Order 122 (representatives of Church of England Youth Council and Deaf Anglicans Together). In Standing Order 122, in paragraph (1), for “three” substitute “five”.
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