archbishops,archbishops' council,church commissioners,mission,pcc,save the parish,stipendiary,theological education

Peter Kelsey

Candidate for the House of Laity - Diocese of
Derby

-» Treasurer in the Parish of Dethick, Lea and
_ Holloway.

Deanery Leadership Team since 2018.

Elected to General Synod in 2023 and ready to
commit to another 5 years.

Please give me your first or high preference
vote.

Why | am standing for a second term:

| joined General Synod nearly half way through the quinquennium. This has
been very beneficial in that | now understand the complex workings of Synod
and how to get things done. By starting half way through | missed out on joining
committees, which are all formed at the start of the quinquennium, and | need
to get onto some committees this time to make the biggest difference.

What will | do if you elect me:

| will continue to support Save the Parish.

— Save the Parish is a brilliant group that | am
involved with which instigated the motion that
asked the Church Commissioners to spend some
of their £11.6 billion to support Parishes. The
request was for £100m per annum to be spent on
! Parishes. | brought this to Carsington Deanery
and then on to Diocesan Synod, both passed.
Around half of all 42 Diocesan Synods passed
this motion which went to General Synod in July
aie 2025. An amended version of the motion was
passed and now we need to make sure that this is properly followed through
and not watered down. We need to ensure that Parishes get the support that
they need from both the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council.

I can help to make that happen if you elect me.

My financial background and innovative ideas allow me to be an active part of
the financial scrutiny group of Save the Parish.

The STP manifesto is here: savetheparish.com/general-synod-manifesto-2026/

In a few words the Save the Parish aims, which | endorse, are:

For Parishes For Priests For People
Restore Church Establish acharterof | Adopt achurchgoers’
Commissioners’ funds — care that values our charter that honours

to parish ministry. overworked Clergy. volunteers.

Direct the common Renew rich theological Make church closure
fund to mission and resourcing for harder than survival
the cure of souls. theological education. and growth.

| am also involved with the Rural Interest Group on General Synod, supporting
rural ministry, where our Priests are too thinly spread over too many Parishes.

Since 2000 the number of stipendiary parish clergy nationally has fallen by
28% - we must reverse this trend!

Where | am serving:
Locally | have been on our PCC for 15 years and Treasurer for 5 years.

As part of the Deanery Leadership Team we are working to support Parishes in
Carsington Deanery and organising Synods to deliver support and improved
communication — including a WhatsApp group.

| am Lay Chair of our Diocesan Synod, a member of Bishop’s Council, the
Investment and the People and Remuneration committees. My goal as Lay
Chair is to improve communication and make Synod more engaging. In the
investment committee we have significantly improved the income generated by
our investments, which greatly helps in the funding of clergy. The people and
remuneration committee is new and it is exciting working to see how we can
improve the conditions for the clergy and DBF staff across the Diocese —
wellbeing is so important.

Home and Work:

| am married and we live in Lea. We have a close family and holiday together
alternate years. | am Managing Director of a company employing 300 people,
which we build from scratch. We support various charities and am honoured
to be a Patron of Ashgate Hospice.

Thank you for reading. Do get in touch with any questions.
[email protected]

Please give me your first or high preference vote.