General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Revd Ceri Payne — Candidate for House of Clergy

Associate Vicar — St John the Evangelist, Cambridge
[email protected], 07730 682359

236 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8QE

Nominated by

(1) Revd Sam Perez, Rector of the Shingay Churches
(2) Revd Olivia Coles, Vicar of Whittlesford

| am standing for election to General Synod because | strongly believe that good governance
is vital to fulfilling Jesus’ prayer that his whole Church might be as one and is essential for
bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to every parish in England. | can offer to General
Synod the experience, skills and understanding developed in my working life as a company
lawyer, prior to ordination as a self-supporting minister.

| started attending church at university. But it was only in my mid-twenties, through friends
who believed that God heard and answered their prayers, that | realised that having a
personal relationship with God meant accepting that Jesus died on the cross for me too.
From that point on, | became a committed Christian and | was excited to share God’s word.

For more than thirty years | was very happy working as a barrister in private practice in
chambers in London, latterly as a Queen’s Counsel (QC - now KC). Over time, | came to
specialise in major and complex corporate restructurings, often contested, which required
approval from shareholders and the Court. | loved working, with solicitors and accountants,
to help clients to achieve their business goals in ways that were demonstrably fair and
helping to avert those proposals which were not. Whilst at the Bar | was a member of the
group that founded the Association of Women Barristers and a member of the Bar Council
committee that brought in an Equality Code applicable to all barristers’ chambers.

However, all the time | was working and helping to bring up our four children, | was heavily
involved in my local church, variously as homegroup leader, youth group leader, PCC
secretary, PCC vice-chair, churchwarden, and leading the church through an interregnum
concluding in a church graft. | was also very involved in the work of Friends International
with international students by giving talks, leading discussion groups, looking after the
volunteers who came to the UK to lodge with us for 6-9 months, and chairing the
Cambridge branch of trustees. With the last of our children off to university, | began to
explore the possibility of leaving the Bar for full-time ministry. | longed to connect people
with God, not only on Sundays, but at their best and their worst times and whenever they
might be open to God’s love. | realised God was calling me to be ordained.

From 2019 to 2021 | trained at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, taking a BTh degree at Magdalene
College. In 2021 | was ordained as a self-supporting curate at St John the Evangelist,
Cambridge, where | led on the adoption of a new website and database with Hubb.Church
and a new audio-visual system. From 2023 to 2024 | spent a year on secondment at Great St
Mary’s, the University Church in Cambridge, supporting the new vicar through a period of
transition and bringing in the use of ChurchSuite across the church. In 2024 | was appointed
as self-supporting Associate Vicar at St John the Evangelist, Cambridge.

As Associate Vicar | work in close collaboration with the incumbent, sharing the leading of
worship, preaching and pastoral care, and developing discipleship. Two years ago | took on,
in addition, a newly-created part-time role as Choir Chaplain at Homerton College,
connecting me with staff and students at one of Cambridge University’s largest colleges. As
an Anna Chaplain, | secured diocesan recognition for a new worshipping community,
marked with a baptism, in a local care home, and | am a trustee of the Hope Network,
linking church leaders across Cambridge for prayer and encouragement.

| want to offer to General Synod the skills that | developed in my work as a barrister. These
include quickly mastering complex situations; thinking strategically and identifying
priorities; writing accurately and clearly; facilitating discussions; speaking persuasively; and
productively resolving differences of opinion and perspective.

| have seen for myself how due process can prevent the abuse of power and protects
minorities and the vulnerable. Indeed, | have co-authored a book in this area on the
exercise of majority shareholder power. My experience of leading people through change
equips me to contribute to the process through which the Church of England seeks
guidance from God, consensus emerges, and decisions are made, including in the debate
around marriage, where | hold to established CofE doctrine.

| also bring to the General Synod the perspective of a self-supporting minister with a role (in
Homerton College) that is supplemental to parish ministry. And | bring my experience of
various kinds of church ministry as a lay member and everything | learned with Friends
International about how to support churches in their ministry to international students.

| would be grateful for your support in the election (and if | am not your first-choice
candidate, | would ask you to consider giving me your 2"? or 3" vote).

Ceri Payne

abuse,abuse of power,baptism,discipleship,doctrine,equality,good news,interregnum,marriage,ordination,pcc,prayer,self supporting,youth,youth group