General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Candidate for General Synod
Rev Peter Selby
Minister in Secular Employment and Consultant Physician
Associate Minister, St Andrew, Cheadle Hulme
[email protected]
Proposed: Rev Densie Noble – MSE and curate,
Christ Church, Chester
Seconded: Rev Mark Pickles, Vicar, St Andrews, Cheadle
Hulme
About me:
• I was ordained in 2018
o As a self-supporting minister
o A minister in secular employment (MSE)
• Seek to bring Kingdom values to my workplace
o A busy teaching hospital in Manchester where I am consultant physician
and associate medical director
• Also serve as associate minister in St Andrew’s, Cheadle Hulme, a medium sized
evangelical church in the suburbs of Manchester where I have worshipped with
my wife and family since moving to Manchester over 30 years ago.
What can I bring to synod:
• Speaking for Self-Supporting Ministers
o More than a quarter of ordained ministers licensed in the Church of
England are self-supporting
o However, they are much less frequently to be found in any of its
representative bodies
o Although many issues facing clergy are common to stipendiary and self-
supporting ministers
o There are issues specific to self-supporting ministers which specifically
affect their well being
o It is important that there is a voice for these issues in General Synod
o If elected, I would offer such a voice, speaking on behalf of all self-
supporting ministers, regardless of role or theological tradition.
• Sharing experience as Minister in Secular Employment
o In particular, I have wide exposure to different aspects of MSE
o Since before ordination I have been an active member of CHRISM (the
organisation for ministers called to MSE – www.chrism.or.uk)
o Up to 2024 I was presiding moderator of CHRISM and remain part of its
moderatorial team
o This has given me the opportunity to work with a wide variety of different
MSEs in different settings and of different theological traditions.
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Candidate for General Synod
o Most report a greater difficulty getting the Church to understand their
ministry than their employers, this means that the church is missing out
on an important opportunity for mission into the increasingly secular
workplaces of our country.
o Furthermore, they also report that the Church fails to recognise their
expertise in their field of work and does not utilise them to plan the
Church’s response to important questions of faith and life: for instance,
my own observations suggest that much of its repose to important issues
of medical ethics has not been well informed by input from practitioners,
ordained or lay.
o If elected, I would speak strongly against this perpetuation of a sacred-
secular divide
o I would also be a strong advocate for the Church to take full advantage of
the expertise already available within her walls
• Sharing experience from my secular employment
o My clinical experience means that I could offer an informed view on many
matters of medical ethics. This is particularly the case for:
▪ Issues at beginning and end of life where I have had to make
difficult decisions as well as travelling alongside others (patients
and colleagues) in the throes of such difficult decision making
▪ Issues of healthcare justice – I spent over ten years serving on a
NICE technology appraisal committee, latterly as its vice chair.
From this I have a very clear understanding of the issues around
the equitable allocation of limited resources
o I have had experience of oversight of large charitable organisations having
been trustee of both National Osteoporosis Society, including as
treasurer, and Paget’s Association, as chair. So, I already have some of the
understanding of finance and organisational issues which will need to be
addressed by Synod
Other issues:
• I do believe that the properties which I can bring to Synod are defined by the
issues which have proved so divisive int eh Church of England in recent years
• However, to provide complete clarity I make it clear that
o I support a traditional view of marriage and family life
o I support the role of women in ministry
I trust that you can see that, as a result of my MSE experience, I offer a different
perspective on some of the big issues facing the Church of England over the next five
years and can bring valuable experience to Synod which is important given the
increasing reliance of self-supporting ministers in the Church.
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