General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Revd Canon Wendy Thomson
Candidate for General Synod — Diocese of Ely
Email: [email protected] · Tel: 01354 692173 · Facebook: revdwendythomson
Proposer: The Revd Canon Lynda Davies
Seconder: The Revd Andrew Smith

I love the Church of England and am passionate about its work across the
Diocese of Ely, bringing the good news of God's love from Cambridge city to
our rural villages and Fenland market towns. There are huge challenges, of
course — but it is a great privilege to know that I am called, together with
you, "to lead God's people in the offering of praise and the proclamation of
the gospel." My previous experience as Clergy Chair for Ely Diocesan Synod,
followed by ten years serving on Bishop's staff as Dean for Women, gave me a
wider understanding of the structures, systems, and governance of the
Church. To be honest, I personally found it difficult when I discovered that the
Church didn't always practise what it preached. But by God's grace, I have remained confident in
my conviction that the Church of England has extraordinary news to offer our nation. I am offering
myself for election to General Synod because I want to do my bit to ensure that this good news is
offered with real transparency, hope, and justice.

Who Am I?
I was a secondary History teacher before ordination in the Diocese of Norwich and have served in
Ely since 2004 — first as Associate Vicar in a job-share while raising our two children, and since
2013 as Vicar of Chatteris, a fenland market town with more than its share of real hardship.
Alongside full-time parish life, I have served as Chair for the House of Clergy on Ely Diocesan Synod
(2014 – 2018) before being appointed to the Bishop's staff (2014) as Diocesan Adviser for Women
in Ministry (DAWM) and to the Archbishops’ College of Evangelists (2023). I am currently about to
enter my third and final year in training as a Spiritual Director mainly learning how to become a
better listener. I am married to the Revd James Thomson, a Chaplain at Hinchingbrooke Hospital,
and in my spare time, I love to paint landscapes — badly, but with some enthusiasm.

What Are the Issues Facing Synod?
The Church of England is facing real challenges — none of them, I believe, beyond the reach of
prayer, honest conversation, and a willingness to work together:

Institutional Trust and Governance. As Chair of the House of Clergy, I took clergy concerns
seriously and represented colleagues in the earliest discussions on the Clergy Covenant — but this
remains unfinished business. I want to see it strengthened into a stronger framework of care, one
that properly protects clergy from mental and physical exhaustion. This year's vote to restore clergy
pensions to two-thirds of stipend, reversing a cut made in 2011, shows what is possible when Synod
acts decisively — but much more is needed to attract, value, and retain clergy properly. I will work
with others to restore the Church Commissioners' funds to their founding purpose: stipendiary
parish ministry. I will also support new ordination pathways, while pushing for richer theological
resourcing during training. Trust is rebuilt when people commit to working together, with financial
accountability, for the common good.

Transparency, Accountability, and Justice. If radical inclusion is at the heart of God’s new humanity
in Christ, then we need to ask what we are prepared to do about it. As Dean for Women, I sought to
speak for those not at the table and to challenge the structural and behavioural barriers that allow

discrimination to persist. I remain committed to the Five Guiding Principles, but I believe we now
need a national enquiry into whether legislation introduced twenty years ago is enabling the
mutual flourishing of us all — and, if not, what should change to make this happen. Also, as we
navigate our differences over PFL, I am committed to working faithfully with those with whom I
disagree while holding to the historic position of the Church. I will listen and learn, seeking to keep
in step with the Spirit until there is a shared understanding and clear national settlement, so that
the burden of implementing pastoral provision does not fall on individual parishes, priests, or
LGBTQI+ people themselves. I will work for policies and practices that are theologically robust,
carefully considered, consistent, and conformed to Christ, the one to whom we must all one day
give account.

Resourcing Parish Ministry: I am convinced that the parish remains the best means of evangelism
and pastoral care, and resources should follow it to the frontline. Isolated and economically
deprived areas can easily be overlooked, but in a divided society full of class wars, the cohesive
power of the local church should not be underestimated. In my own parish, for example, we are
intentionally building counter-cultural congregations, reaching across ethnic, political, and
generational lines with the reconciling love of Christ. This is why I have consistently pushed for
financial transparency at diocesan level, and funding that reaches beyond the diocesan office to
sacramental ministry. If we are going to reach Net Zero, which I support, the financial burden
cannot rest on parishes alone. If we want to grow younger, sustain local ministry, cultivate
vocations and nurture new worshipping communities, we need stop cutting clergy posts and invest
more at parish level. I want General Synod to keep backing parishes doing that faithful,
unglamorous work of forming everyday disciples.

What Do I Bring?
That's a fair question — why should you vote for me? Here's what I'd offer: proven leadership
across parish, deanery, diocesan and national life; a genuine love of listening, even to views very
different from my own; and a ministry tested not in comfort but in a place of real deprivation. I
don't come to Synod chasing one issue — I come because I believe in the Church of England, warts
and all, and because good synodical government depends on ordinary parish priests being willing to
do their bit.

I would love to hear from you — do get in touch, and please pray for me.

Wendy Thomson
The Vicarage, Church Lane Chatteris Cambs.
PE16 6JA
01354 682173
[email protected]

accountability,archbishops,church commissioners,disciples,discrimination,evangelism,good news,gospel,guiding principles,justice,net zero,new worshipping communities,ordination,prayer,sacramental,stipend,stipendiary,synodical government,transparency,vicarage,vocations,women in ministry