General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Ely Diocese General Synod Elections 2026-2031 House of Laity

Relevant work experience:
During my 20+ year career in the Civil Service, I worked
for a number of Government Departments on a wide
range of issues, both as a scientist and as a policy
maker. Much of that work focussed on climate change
and ways to mitigate it:-
I specialised in renewable energy, in particular
bioenergy from forestry and agriculture: I acted as
Technical Advisor to the UK Government’s Biomass
Task Force on the use of biomass for energy; led a
cross-government team to implement the Task Force’s
findings; contributed
to the development of
sustainability legislation; analysed renewable energy
options; drafted strategies; briefed Government
Ministers; and participated in European meetings.
I also worked on research/policy programmes aimed
at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture
and at improving environmental sustainability.
Latterly, I led a team to support senior policy makers
and scientists in the co-ordination of marine science
research across the UK Governments, that should help
our understanding of the effects of climate change and
human impacts on the marine environment.
During my career I also led a regional team that
worked closely with partner organisations to help
address the challenges faced by remote rural
communities. Many of these challenges are similar to
those experienced by rural parishes within the Ely
Diocese.
Rebecca Cowburn
I very much welcome this opportunity to introduce myself. I am standing in
this election after much prayerful consideration and having been encouraged
to do so by others. I have been privileged to serve as one of the Ely Lay
representatives on General Synod for the past five years. Throughout this time
I have sought to serve God faithfully and to support and encourage initiatives
and decisions that will help our churches to thrive, to be places that share the
good news of Jesus, and where everyone is welcome, included and loved.
In particular, I have used my experience of being part of a small rural church to
highlight key, urgent challenges faced by our parishes, and my scientific
background in climate change to suggest practical local approaches. If re-
elected, I would seek to continue to serve Christ and the Church of England
with energy, commitment, joy and prayer.

Thank you for taking the time to read this address.
A bit about me:
I spent much of my childhood in rural Yorkshire. After university in Edinburgh, where I studied biological
sciences, I worked and travelled abroad. On returning to the UK, I joined the Civil Service and worked as a
scientist and then on policy issues, in London and the regions, for over 20 years. I left the Civil Service when
preparing to move back to Cambridgeshire; I was initially self-employed and have since done voluntary work.
I’m married and my husband is also a scientist and a Christian. We live in a small rural village along with my
elderly mother, who has recently come to live with us, and have a garden full of wild ducks, moorhen and rabbits!
Church:
My husband and I have been members of St
Andrew’s, Caxton for the past eleven years. It is a
small rural church with fewer than 20 regular
attendees and is part of the Papworth Team
Ministry of 15 churches, in the Bourn Deanery.
Since joining our local church, it has been my
privilege to serve on the PCC (since 2015), as a
churchwarden (since 2017), on Bourn Deanery
Synod, and as Secretary to the Deanery Synod,
(since 2017), on the Diocesan Synod (since 2018),
and on General Synod (2021-2026). I am also a
reserve organist at church.
The church congregation is very active and caring.
I’ve worked closely with church members to
introduce a number of church-led activities over
the years to help to tackle loneliness in our small
rural community and to give people the
opportunity to ask questions about the Christian
faith, such as the reintroduction of regular coffee
mornings at church. I’ve also previously run a Bible
study/Home group and a monthly Walking Group
for local churches and their communities, both of
which I hope to restart shortly.
At the beginning of Covid-19, I jointly established
(with our PCC Treasurer), and helped run, a church-
led village volunteer group that delivered shopping
and continues to deliver prescriptions to local
residents.
Email: [email protected]

Ely Diocese General Synod Elections 2026-2031 House of Laity

What have I done on General Synod?:

• I have asked questions on a range of topics, including:

o what steps are being taken to reduce the pressure
experienced by small, often rural, churches due to
the large quantity of necessary policy documents,
procedures and risk assessments that they are
required to produce, review and maintain?;
o why so few people are currently coming forward for
ordination. (Over the past 8 years, the number of
people being recommended to train for ordination
has fallen by around one third.). (General Synod Report
of Proceedings July 2024, p46, response to question 4);
o on climate change-related issues: I asked if online
‘calculators’ would be provided to help make it
cheaper and easier for churches to explore the likely
costs and benefits of installing different renewable
energy systems; sought advice on which climate-
proof trees to plant in our graveyards; and suggested
an alternative approach re: the need for a Faculty for
a new boiler, by churches with low fossil fuel use; and
o asked questions on theology, the importance of
Scripture, and reducing multi-parish benefice sizes.

• In response to the Living in Love & Faith (LLF) initiative,

I have sought to engage faithfully, to listen well, to
consider prayerfully, to speak with gentleness, to vote
biblically, and to show God’s love for all. It has been a
difficult and distressing experience for many from across
all parts of the church.

• I was a member of the ‘Rural Interest Group on General

Synod’ (RIGGS) and ‘General Synod Environment Group’. I
support the aims of ‘Save the Parish’, to help ‘sustain a
thriving cradle-to grave parish system’.

• I was the Ely member on the ‘Queen Victoria Clergy

Fund’ for the relief of financial hardship among the clergy.
If elected to General Synod, I would seek to serve the whole Diocese and the wider church to the best of my
abilities. I long to see the Church of England and its congregations flourishing. In particular, I would bring:
• my knowledge and understanding of how Synod works, to help promote measures to reduce the financial
and administrative pressures on our parishes and to help secure an effective pipeline of increased numbers
of well-trained ordinands and clergy;
• my experience, from having been a member of growing churches, of the factors that can contribute to
church growth, by God’s grace. (The estimated average weekly church attendance in 2025 (707,000) was
35% lower than in 2008 (1,100,000), based on Ministry Statistics data on the Church of England’s website);
• my scientific background in climate change and environmental sustainability, to support and help inform
the Church’s response to the growing Climate Change crisis and its own net zero target;
• my understanding and appreciation of the breadth of the Church and its traditional teachings; and
• my commitment to working for loving and wise decisions in Synod that are pleasing to God, above all.

I should be very grateful if you would prayerfully consider voting for me. Thank you!

Rebecca Cowburn

• Please do contact me with any questions at: [email protected].

Faith:
In terms of my faith, I remember realising, when
I was around 9 years old, that God existed. I also
realised that if He existed and was God, I needed
to commit my life to Him. I didn’t, however,
understand why Jesus was so important. So that
night I committed my life to God’s service and
asked Him to show me, over the coming years,
who Jesus was.
And God, mercifully, answered my prayer. He
showed me that Jesus is His dear Son who brings
us forgiveness from our sins by his death on the
cross. Since then, I have sought to share the good
news about Jesus and to do so ‘with gentleness
and respect’ (1 Peter 3 v15). I have co-led Bible
study groups and have helped to lead courses for
people exploring the Christian faith.
Diversity and Unity:
The Church of England encompasses a wide
range of views and traditions, that are held
together in the unity of the Spirit. While I’ve
mainly attended evangelical churches, I have
also, over the past 40+ years, been blessed to
worship in churches of other traditions, from
high to low churches, from charismatic to a
church that met in a shop front in an outback
town in Australia. Some were large growing
churches and others small rural parishes, such as
our local church, where members come from a
wide range of traditions. God has continued to
hone my faith in each, as I’ve learnt more about
Him, His holiness and His love, and more about
the people He calls us to be.

agriculture,benefice,charismatic,church growth,climate change,elderly,environment,environmental,evangelical,good news,llf,loneliness,net zero,ordinands,ordination,pcc,prayer,rural communities,save the parish,scripture,traditional