General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Claire Levin candidate for the House of Laity, Diocese of Chichester
The Church of England currently has just 6250 Full time Stipendiary
positions, a drop of 28% since 2000. More clergy are resigning from
their roles than those retiring. Strategic restructuring is cutting
stipendiary posts and spreading those remaining so thin, that they
are unable to meet the needs of their parish(es). This current trend is
not sustainable.
I am standing for election to General Synod because I believe the
Church of England’s national life must be rooted once again in the faith, worship and service
of its parishes. The parish church is where people most often encounter the Church: in
prayer and worship, in baptism, marriage and burial, in pastoral care, in schools, in
community service, and in the quiet daily witness of clergy and laity serving their
neighbours.
I support Save the Parish because it gives voice to a conviction
shared by many across our dioceses: that the parish system is
not an optional extra, but one of the Church of England’s
greatest gifts to the nation. A flourishing Church needs properly
resourced parishes, sustainable stipendiary ministry, well-
supported clergy, valued lay volunteers, and finances directed
clearly towards mission and the cure of souls.
If elected, I will work for a General Synod that listens to ordinary parish churches that takes
seriously the pressures they face: stretched clergy, increasing benefices, anxious
churchwardens, fragile finances, building responsibilities, and exhausted volunteers. I will
argue for decisions that strengthen local ministry rather than burden it, and for national and
diocesan structures that serve parishes rather than expecting parishes simply to fund
structures.
My priorities would be:
•
to defend and renew the parish system as the Church’s primary framework for
worship, mission and pastoral care;
•
to support fairer funding for frontline parish ministry, especially in poorer and rural
communities;
•
to value stipendiary clergy and protect them from unsustainable workloads;
•
to honour the vocation, wisdom and labour of lay people who sustain parish life
week by week;
•
to scrutinise national strategies, spending and legislation so that they strengthen
local churches rather than weaken them;
•
to encourage confidence in Anglican worship, preaching, sacramental life and
pastoral presence in every community.

I recognise the breadth of the Church of England and would seek to work constructively with
others across traditions and perspectives. But I would bring to Synod a firm commitment to
putting parish, priest and people at the heart of our common life. Renewal will not come by
overlooking the local church; it will come by trusting, resourcing and encouraging it.
About me
I have been a member of Holy Trinity, Hurstpierpoint for 27 years, and have spent much of
that time as a member of the PCC and Deanery Synod. In the past, I served on Diocesan
Synod. I am currently Lay Chair of Hurst Deanery Synod. I am also a Reader, and hold a
Masters degree in Christian Liturgy.
I spent over 42 years working in the Legal Profession and as a (now retired) Solicitor, I am
familiar working with, and interpreting legislation. I am comfortable with issues of
governance, process and legislation, which General Synod work involves. I pray for God’s
will to be done.
I ask for your support and your first-preference vote, so that together we can help the
Church of England recover confidence in the parish system and serve every community with
faithfulness, hope and joy.

Claire Levin

[email protected]
17 Spinney Close,
Hurstpierpoint,
BN6 9AR

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