General Synod Election Candidates 2026

I'm Fr. Stephen Dunton. I'm Vicar of Timperley in Altrincham and have been
ordained for thirteen years. I am married to Hannah and have 5 children
and 3 grandchildren. I have been in Timperley for over 4 years and am loving
it. I spent most of my life in the Midlands, but my mother was from
Cheshire, so coming to the diocese has been a homecoming. I recently
discovered that i am descended from a 17th century priest from this
diocese.
I was a Head of Department and taught RE for 25 years. My final role in
schools was as a pastoral manager and safeguarding lead. I served in both
state and church schools and loved my role. I came to faith as a teenager at
school and became involved in my parish church. I was ordained 15 years
as a deacon in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. After returning to the
church of my youth, I spent a year at Cuddesdon before being priested and
serving a curacy at Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire.
I have a heart for Christ and reaching people with the gospel. I stand in the
Catholic tradition and value the power of the sacramental life to mediate
God's grace and encounter the risen Christ. I am theologically orthodox
and seek to welcome all with compassion and without distinction, whilst
being committed to the traditional doctrine of Christian marriage as
received by the church catholic.
I firmly believe parish ministry remains the way for the Church of England
to fulfil its historic calling to be a Christian presence in every community
and believe that traditional Anglican and eucharistic worship, both
Common Worship and BCP is at the heart of this. I believe in the principle
of subsidiarity, that local decisions are best made by parishes and I would
seek to promote the maintenance of the parish system.
I am present in both parish and community; in schools and visits. I work
well with people across the whole breadth of modern Anglicanism and
place great emphasis on maintaining the unity of the church. In a society
where there is a clamour of disparate voices clamouring for attention,
there is a need for people to listen well and engage graciously even amidst
profound disagreements. I am privileged to I have experience of serving in
non-stipendiary and stipendiary ministry and the challenges faced in both.
In the deanery I work well with other parishes, particularly on Mission,
where I have taken part in street witness. I am a committed ecumenist and
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work well with other churches in other denominations. If elected to General
Synod, I will seek to be a constructive presence.
I enjoy visiting National Trust properties, going swimming and the arts in
my free time. I attempt to remain grounded and with the help of my family,
friends and parishioners maintain a sense of humour.
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