benefice,diocesan council,environmental,missional,youth

Dr. Mrs. Chisom Favor Eliakim-Ikechukwu

General Synod Election Address.
Candidates Name: Dr Mrs. Chisom Eliakim-Ikechukwu
Vocation: Medical Doctor - General Practitioner – Serving as a salary GP at
Weoley Park Surgery, Birmingham.
Involvements at Parish, Deanery and Diocesan levels of voluntary services:

Lay Reader, Benefice of Lozells and Newtown
Lay Readers Coordinator – Handsworth and Central Deanery
Synod Member Handsworth and Central Deanery.
Synod Member Birmingham Diocesan Synod.
Member Birmingham Diocesan Council.
Coordinator, women of Grace Fellowship, Benefice of Lozells and

Newtown.

Commissioned Pathway for Youth Minister.

I desire to serve as a member of the Church of England General Synod. I hereby
seek to be elected to this office in the forthcoming general elections. I believe I
have helpful contributions I could bring to the general synod as follows:
My experience as a Medical Doctor in the health care sector gives me the
opportunity to make meaningful and practical inputs at initiating or contributing
towards health and wellbeing discussions at the synod.
As a Church we could get absorbed with spiritual and social issues that we neglect
the psychological as well as deep emotional needs of the people we serve. The
Lord would wish that we be healed and made whole. Wholeness includes the
general wellbeing of an individual in the first instance and the church as a whole.
This wellbeing includes spirit, soul and body. A healing of that nature would
require attention properly given to individual’s response to needs and challenges
around them.
I believe our discussion on inclusion should embrace all forms of inclusiveness.
I happen to have had some training in Neurodevelopmental disorders with special
interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. People of this disposition are
distributed in all spheres of society struggling to fit into already stereotyped
systems without being given an opportunity to function at their pace and best. It
is time we include and accommodate everyone in our discussions at the synod. If

elected I could help with some information based on my training and practice
along this line.
I am also a commissioned Pathway for Youth minister. With my training along
this line, I support intergenerational inclusiveness. With the growing population
of youths in our church, our discussion along encouraging this demography
should be intentional and authentic. I am happy to bring quite an experience into
this discussion at the synod if elected.
Before my relocation with family to the United Kingdom, I served as a Lecturer
and the head of the department of Human Anatomy in the University of Calabar,
Nigeria. My experiences as a Snr Lecturer and Head of Department equipped me
with collaborative skills of leadership. Since my engagement with leadership
roles here at my workplace and in the Church of England this skill has been quite
helpful. I am happy to bring this skill and other strengths into my service as a
member of the general synod if elected.
Moreover, my experience as a member of an ethnic minority group encourages
me to support and speak up for people who are underrepresented. With this
experience I shall make meaningful suggestions and bring informed ideas into
discussions at the synod that would represent a wider interest in the Church of
England.
I strongly stand in support of the Church of England in her missional, ministerial
and environmental calling especially in the 21st century. I intend to make
meaningful contributions at the synod towards discussions along this line if
elected.
As I look forward to serving at the General Synod with sincerity, humility,
integrity and commitment, I seek your support to secure this opportunity in the
forthcoming synod elections. God bless.
Chisom.