General Synod Election Candidates 2026

I am standing for General Synod because I both love and struggle with
the Church of England.
I love its breadth and complexity, its traditions and its capacity to surprise
us, and above all the people who make up the Church. I also value its
unique place in our national life: a voice that can speak from deep roots,
local presence and public responsibility. After twenty years of ordained
ministry, I have learned that the Church is rarely as tidy as we would like it
to be and that God is remarkably good at working through the mess.
I am not standing because I think I have all the answers. Quite the
opposite. I have learned enough about the Church to know that most of
the important questions are more complicated than they first appear. I
do, however, believe I have something to offer.
That offering is not a set of easy answers, but experience formed in
several parts of the Churches life.
About Me I have served in parish ministry, pioneering, as a Bishop’s liturgical chaplain, in
deanery leadership, and now as Archdeacon of Ipswich. Those roles have shown me the
Church from different angles: local, diocesan and national; traditional and experimental;
hopeful and stretched. They have also taught me to pay close attention to the sometimes
uncomfortable space between what looks sensible nationally and what actually works on a
wet Tuesday evening in a parish.
I have learned something about leadership, too. Particularly about power.
The Church has power institutional, financial, spiritual and relational. I think we need to be
honest about that and careful about how we use it. Christian leadership should not be
primarily about protecting our position or preserving what we have. It should be about service.
I am increasingly convinced that leadership needs to be vulnerable, authentic and
accountable. Sometimes the most important thing a leader can do is listen, admit that they
don’t know, or acknowledge that they got something wrong.
That is something I am still learning myself.
I care deeply about good theology and good manners.
We need good theology because our life together has to be rooted in Christ, Scripture, prayer
and the wisdom of the Church. We need to think seriously, listen carefully and be willing to
wrestle with difficult questions rather than reaching for easy answers.
And we need good manners because the person who disagrees with us is still a person made
in the image of God and very often a brother or sister in Christ.
I believe in messy and miraculous unity. Not pretending that we agree when we don’t. Not
avoiding difficult conversations. Not silencing people in the name of unity.
But learning again how to disagree faithfully, generously and graciously, remembering that
our identity in Christ is more fundamental than the particular theological, liturgical or ecclesial
camp to which we belong.

Sam Brazier - Gibbs
[email protected]
Nominated by
Proposer Canon Charlotte Cook Seconded by Rev Chris Hood

Conviction, Grace, and Institutional Integrity
Whether we are navigating our ongoing conversations around relationships, sexuality, and
gender, establishing genuinely independent safeguarding oversight, or navigating the rollout of the
Clergy Conduct Measure, my approach remains the same. I want us to be a Church rooted in
Scripture and confident in the gospel, but holding those convictions with a posture of generosity,
grace, and deep attentiveness to pastoral reality. True fidelity to Christ calls us to protect freedom
of conscience across our diverse traditions, to act with radical accountability toward those we have
failed, and to ensure our national structures and finances exist solely to serve the mission of local
parishes on the ground.
I also believe we need to become more willing to die to self.
Not because I think the Church is dying, but because dying to self is at the heart of Christian
discipleship. We are called to give ourselves away for the sake of others.
That may mean letting go of things we love. It may mean changing structures that have served us
well but no longer serve the mission God has given us. It may mean asking whether our use of
money, buildings, time and power is really directed towards the people we are called to serve.
I care about mission because I believe people need Jesus; about clergy and lay people because
people cannot flourish when they are exhausted, unheard or treated simply as resources; about
safeguarding and good governance because love requires responsibility; and about the future of
the Church because I believe God has not finished with us.
Above all, I want to keep returning to the truth that the Church belongs to God, not to us.
We are invited into the life of the living God Father, Son and Holy Spirit and our task is to receive
that gift and give ourselves away in response.
If elected, I would bring experience, curiosity, a willingness to ask awkward questions when
necessary, and an equal willingness to listen when I might be wrong.
I would seek to represent this diocese faithfully. I would try to speak with both conviction and
humility, to disagree without diminishing others, and to remember that whatever our differences,
we are called to serve the same Lord Jesus.
I would be deeply honoured to serve the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich on General
Synod.
Sam Brazier - Gibbs
[email protected]
Nominated by
Proposer Canon Charlotte Cook Seconded by Rev Chris Hood

accountability,clergy conduct,discipleship,fidelity,finances,generosity,gospel,independent safeguarding,liturgical,mission,prayer,safeguarding,scripture,sexuality,traditional