Posted Friday 10 June 2011
Seating had been re-arranged to enable Synod members to meet in Indaba groups (‘Indaba’ is a Zulu word meaning ‘gathering for purposeful discussion’ and was used during the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops.The first item on the Agenda was Motion 11 - that Synod welcome the paper from the Mission and Ministry Board entitled ‘The Whole Church Mission and Ministry Policy’ and encourage the Board in implementing the “next steps” envisaged in the paper.
The Primus introduced the policy, and the Rev Anne Tomlinson explained the background of the Policy. Synod then met in Indaba groups to discuss the Whole Church Mission and Ministry Policy paper and returned to the Synod chamber to share comments and questions before voting to pass Motion 11.
This was followed by an overview of the work of the Ministry Development Committee by Mr Peter Smart, Committee Convener, who stated that Initial Ministerial Education was one of the consistent points of focus of the Committee and that the Committee was looking at ways in which any special needs of rural ministry might be incorporated in to the Thelogical Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The session from the Overseas Committee was presented by the Committee Convener, Rev Duncan McCosh who introduced James Picardo, Campaign Manager of Jubilee Scotland who thanked the Scottish Episcopal Church for its contributions to Jubilee Scotland over recent years and encouraged congregations to continue to support their campaigns.
The Rev Ian Barcroft, Convener of the Church in Society, Committee presented Motions asking Synod to accept a Statement of Principles on environmental sustainability and mission of the Church, to encourage dioceses and charges to conduct their own environmental sustainability audit to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption to help the Scottish Episcopal Church become a more environmentally sustainable Church, and to request diocesan bodies responsible for the care of church property to consider that the recording, monitoring and encouragement of energy use improvement is an integral part of the environmental sustainability audit.
The Rev John Conway, Convener of the Committee for Relations with People of Other Faiths, told Synod that his Committee was heartened by the responses from churches to the audit of inter-faith activity in each of the dioceses and highlighted that the theme of this year’s Festival of Spirtuality and Peace in Edinburgh will be Faith, Hope and Reality.
The Rev Dr Annalu Waller led the final session of the morning by giving a presentation on the work of the ‘Church for All’ group, saying that the key focus of the group was to explore issues of inclusion and accessibility within the Scottish Episcopal Church, and to provide churches with access to resources to support a Church which is fully accessible for everyone.
The afternoon started with an overview of the Anglican Covenant process and its context by the Primus and an overview of its content by the Rev Canon Dr Michael Fuller. Synod then met in Indaba groups to discuss the Anglican Covenant. There then followed a wide range of comments on the Anglican Covenant from the floor of Synod.
The mid-afternoon session began with a presentation from the College of Bishops, which opened with a theological dialogue between the Bishop of Edinburgh (the Rt Rev Brian Smith) and the Bishop of Glasgow (the Rt Rev Dr Gregor Duncan) in which they reflected on what theology is in the life of a bishop and discussed a variety of topics ranging from the books they are currently reading and the theologians they admire to the theology of musicals and their favourite films! The Primus then gave a report on the Primates’ Meeting in January, saying he took from this meeting a renewed understanding of the significance of issues about the polity of Anglican churches. He spoke of working collegially, of being ‘primus inter pares’ (first among equals) and said that the Primates who were at the Meeting in January work in situtions where they must act within a range of understandings of authority and collegiality. He also spoke of the honour of being elected to the Standing Committee of the Primates’ Meeting.
The business of the day ended with an overview of the work of the Inter-Church Relations Committee by its Convener, Mrs Norma Higgott.In her last presentation as Convener of the Committee Mrs Higgott highlighted the questionnaire that had been sent out to all churches asking for information about the things churches do ecumenically on an informal basis, and then presented the background to Motion 15 regarding the Church of Denmark’s decision to sign the Porvoo Agreement.
The day closed with Evening Office.
Category: General Synod 2011
