Synod, I want to use the time I have been given in this Presidential Address differently from that which would normally be the case—not by pretending that we are not in difficult and challenging times, nor by imagining that words alone, however heartfelt and well-intentioned, can bring about the change we need.
What we always need as followers of Jesus are words made flesh—embodied actions. And sometimes, as we find ourselves waiting and hoping for this to become real, our only proper response is penitence and silence.
So, I do want to say something.
I want to share with you how deeply I believe in and love the Church of England, and I want to tell you about the change that I believe we must make, as well as my part in that during this coming year. However, I am deeply, deeply mindful of the feelings of anguish, anger, sadness, and regret present in this chamber—not least among victims and survivors of abuse and those who valiantly support them, but also among women in our Church who are still victims of discrimination, unwanted touch, and, at times, even sexual assault.
I therefore want to begin this time by inviting my friends and colleagues Alison Coulter, Kate Wharton and Bishop Sarah to lead us in a Litany of Penitence and a time of silence –
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As members of the Church of God, we are first and foremost children of the Kingdom of God.
We are called to glorify the Lord, to realise our inheritance in the promises made to Abraham, to sing Mary’s song of justice and joy, to live as children of God’s Kingdom.
Alongside the Magnificat, the other text from Scripture, that speaks of these things is the Beatitudes, and it is these words and aspirations that I want to place at the heart of our time together in this Synod this week.
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Which means, I believe, blessed are those who know they need resources outside themselves. Blessed are those who know their need of God. Blessed are those who are rich in the goodness and promises of God.
Synod, we need help. The help of God, the help of the Gospel, and also the professional help of those who know more than we do and have gone further than us in areas of our life, particularly in safeguarding, where we have failed greatly.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’
Synod, God is calling each of us to be honest about our failings. God is calling us to prayer and lamentation. Not as ends in themselves, but because when we mourn we receive strength—strength to be true to our vocation: to make our churches places of hospitality and safety for everyone and to embody in our lives the beautiful, scandalous hospitality of God.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’
Synod, while we must rightly and appropriately review and learn from where things have gone wrong—and all of us, and I assure you I begin with myself, must be subject to proper processes of accountability—let us also look forward, hungering and thirsting to be a church where things are done properly. A church where, as Bishop Joanne has so helpfully pointed out, we bridge the gaps between safeguarding, discipline, conduct, and HR, and where we are then able, because we live in a world of such hurt and confusion, to turn our attention away from ourselves and toward the needs of the poor, the lonely, the dispossessed, the hurting, the abused and the neglected.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.’
I believe in God‘s justice and I believe as a follower of Jesus Christ we should take judgement very seriously indeed.
And, as Bishop Sarah has written in the Church Times this morning, I believe that, because of this, our policies and processes on earth, in this church, should be accountable, fair, and transparent. But we must be merciful as well, for we are all sinners in need of God’s grace, we are frail human beings who often get things wrong.
Sometimes that accountability will mean that there are lessons to be learned. Sometimes, it will mean that it is no longer appropriate for someone to hold public office. Sometimes criminal proceedings. But it will always mean that we exercise judgment with compassion and mercy—because each of us knows how much we need this ourselves.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’
And please note, it doesn’t say ‘peace lovers’, which is a relatively easy thing, it speaks about making peace.
And this dear friends, is what our world so urgently needs—and right now, it is what our church needs as well. But that doesn’t mean shying away of shirking from difficult conversations. And it certainly doesn’t mean papering over the cracks of past failures because we’ve done that too many times.
Nor is a truce the same as a peace. Peace is not merely the silence after the guns have stopped firing, peace is reconciliation painfully embraced. And it is that reconciliation that I long for. It is that reconciliation that I am determined to work for, so that even here in this Synod, we conduct our business—however difficult—with grace, mercy, honesty, determination, and love because when we do this, the Scriptures tell us we are most like the children of God, children, as Mary sings, of justice and joy. Because, Synod, let’s be clear, we have a responsibility to lead and serve the Church of England for the sake of this nation and the world.
And I commit myself to this—not just because it is the right thing to do, but because I love and believe in the Church of England.
I love the Church of England. I love it because of its hundreds and hundreds of schools and thousands and thousands of parishes and countless chaplaincies, and new worshipping communities and ‘day in day out’ care for the community where, thank God, you still don’t need to make an appointment, or fill in a form, or dress up right, and where absolutely everyone is welcome, regardless of your gender, sexuality, ethnicity or class, and the broken, the neglected and the abused, and those who are in deep need, those who are hurting, oh they are especially welcome.
And right now , this minute, as we gather in this Synod, clergy and lay ministers and lay people are speaking about Jesus. I’m thinking about all those crematoria chapels and all those services that are going on right now where you’ve got two or three minutes in a 25 minute service to say something about the goodness and beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But also after school clubs, Choral Evensongs, youth groups, food banks, prayer and healing on the streets and love, so much love in our hearts, because we, like Mary, sing God’s song of joy. We sing God’s song of joy, giving from the overflow of all that we have received.
And Synod, it’s because I love the Church of England – and because I take so seriously our responsibility to be the church for our nation and all its people – I am deeply dismayed by our failings; failings that have been laid bare by the Makin Review and by other recent stories of shocking abuse and I am determined that we make the changes necessary that will prevent these failings ever happening again and give us the processes of accountability and improved practice that we so urgently need.
And much change has taken place, but Synod, let us be clear, it is paradoxically in this group of sessions that we have a chance to get back on track. I have long believed that greater independence is the missing piece in the safeguarding jigsaw, delivering the accountability and transparency we need, particularly in the area of scrutiny, so that those who have concerns and complaints, rightly so, can have them dealt with independently. Whether you are a PCC member, licensed lay minister, parish priest or yes, the Archbishop of York, proper accountability, independent scrutiny and transparency is in everyone’s best interest.
Other things are needed too. Some of them are on our agenda this week, such as reviewing the processes around clergy conduct, with a proposed 3 track system meaning that all complaints can be dealt with more efficiently and appropriately. Beyond this we must continue to address Governance reforms. HR as well as safeguarding. Clergy terms of service. We must conclude our work on Living in Love and Faith and Prayers of Love and Faith in ways which will allow all of us to flourish and serve our nation more effectively, why, I even hope, I really hope, that we can find ways to increase the clergy stipend.
Synod, we are a legislative body. These things are our responsibility. We are the ones who make the laws that the rest of the church, and bishops in particular, have to implement and exercise. If we are frustrated by their shortcomings, then we must do something about it.
Victims and survivors of abuse and all those harmed by the Church have waited too long for real accountability. For many, understandably, their patience has run out. We must respond in this Synod, with actions, not words.
My job now, not always a comfortable one. But my job now – our job as this Synod – is to make this happen. We must work together for these changes before the next Archbishop of Canterbury occupies what I know can a be a lonely and difficult vocation.
Archbishop Justin did an honourable thing by standing down. As we remember his service to this Church and nation and the many good things that were achieved during his time in office – let’s not squander the opportunity this vacancy creates to be a better, more accountable, more transparent, more Christlike church.
All this is possible. But only if we are purposeful. Only if we remember that this is God’s Church not ours, and only if we work together to build the processes and cultures of accountability we lack. Only if we live as children of God, only if we sing Mary’s song.
I know that trust has been broken and confidence damaged. And I am more sorry about this than I can say. I know mistakes have been made. I know that I have made mistakes. But I am determined to do what I can with the time given to me to work with others, especially my dear friend Bishop Sarah, to lead the change we all know we need.
I only know one way of doing this: by showing ourselves trustworthy; by apologising when we get something wrong; by seeking to make amends; by humbly asking for help when we need it; by working collaboratively; by trying to model something different; and by holding ourselves accountable.
O blessed are the poor in Spirit. O blessed are the merciful. O blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right.
Finally, I love the Church of England because it gave me my faith. When I was far off, when the way ahead wasn’t clear, God met me in his Son and brought me home. I am the poor sinner for whom Christ died. I am the hungry man with whom Christ shares his bread. I am the lost sheep he carries home on his shoulders. I am the one for whom his blood was shed on the cross. It is my burdens he carries.
Dear sisters and brothers, this is the story all of us share. And it is for the sharing of this story that the Church of England exists. So, when this Synod gets difficult – and it surely will be difficult at times – let us remember God’s great love for us in Christ, and his power to save.
And as Bishop Bev, the Bishop of Warrington wrote this morning – I don’t know if you’ve yet seen her letter – she makes the observation that what may so easily appear to us as a crisis moment may, through the grace of God be a kairos moment. But it is up to us to make that choice.
‘Blessed are the meek,’ says Jesus, ‘for they will inherit the earth.’ Meekness doesn’t mean weakness. Meekness means obedience to a higher agenda. For he has lifted up the lowly.
