General Synod Election Candidates 2026

ELECTION ADDRESS OF THE REVD PAUL BENFIELD
Standing as a Proctor for the clergy in the Diocese of Blackburn

Proposed by

The Revd Canon Fleur Green
Vicar of Broughton St John the Baptist

Seconded by

The Revd Andrew Holmes
Rector of Burnley St Peter and St Stephen,
Area Dean of Burnley

I am pleased to offer myself for a further term as a member of General Synod. My experience
of parish ministry in the Dioceses of Newcastle and Chichester, and 18 years as Vicar of St
Nicholas, Fleetwood mean that I am grounded in the pastoral, financial and practical realities
of parish life. My time as Diocesan Registrar enabled me to understand further the
complexities of clerical life. Since June this year I have been serving as a house for duty
priest in Burnley, covering vacancies, sickness, holidays and sabbaticals in East Lancashire
and beyond. I hold a practising certificate as a direct access barrister and spend much time
helping clergy and parishes with legal problems – usually on a pro bono basis.
Although I am a traditional Catholic and a trustee of Forward in Faith, I want the Church of
England to remain a broad Church with high, middle and low, catholic, evangelical and
liberal, all engaging in mission. The Church is called to proclaim afresh to each generation
the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds. That
should not involve adapting the Church’s teaching to fit in with the current fashions of
society, but rather showing that Christ’s message is one with different and better priorities and
emphases than those of the world. As Dean Inge said, ‘The church that is married to the spirit
of this age, becomes a widow in the next’.

Synod is primarily a legislative body and my experience as a lawyer means that I can
scrutinise complex measures and canons to ensure that they achieve what they aim to do.
Since being elected I have attended all sessions of Synod and contributed to many debates
and served on many committees and boards. An early success was my amendment which
prevented dioceses from taking ownership of parsonages from incumbents.

STV Elections are won on first preference votes so please give me your first vote.

Thank you.
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PASTORAL REORGANISATION
We are fortunate in Blackburn that there is
an emphasis on keeping parishes and
benefices of a manageable size, but in many
dioceses there is pressure to group them
into large mission or oversight areas. The
Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 is being
replaced by a new measure. It is essential
that this new measure preserves the rights
of clergy and parishes to appeal against
unworkable
schemes
to
the
Church
Commissioners and Privy Council. I have
made submissions on these matters to the
Revision Committee and will further press
these points when the new measure is
revised on the floor of Synod.
CLERGY DISCIPLINE
I served on the Revision Committee for the
new Clergy Conduct Measure which will
replace the discredited Clergy Discipline
Measure. I will monitor
closely its
implementation and raise questions or seek
to amend the Rules or Code of Practice if
necessary.
CLERGY WELLBEING
I served on the Pensions Board for many
years, during which time we eliminated the
significant deficit in the fund, enabling the
restoration of pensions to their pre-2011
levels from April this year. However, there
are still questions to be addressed about the
remuneration
package
for
stipendiary
clergy. I hear too many stories from other
dioceses of clergy (both stipendiary and
SSM) being bullied by diocesan officials or
laity in the parish. I will urge Synod to
progress legislation on the conduct of laity,
an idea which Synod supported in passing a
motion brought by Mark Ireland when
Archdeacon of Blackburn.

MARRIAGE
I will oppose any change to canon B30
which affirms that marriage is in its nature
a union permanent and lifelong, for better
for worse, till death them do part, of one
man with one woman.
SAFEGUARDING
The Church of England has failed in its duty
to children and vulnerable adults and I will
support the creation of an independent
charity to oversee safeguarding. The Crime
and Policing Act 2026 creates a duty of
mandatory reporting of abuse, but this only
applies to regulated activities. The hearing
of confessions (a practice mentioned in the
Book of Common Prayer) is not such an
activity, and I will resist any attempt to
change the canon which upholds the seal of
the confessional.
FINANCE
Church Commissioners’
funds derived
from Queen Anne’s Bounty should be used
for providing clergy for parish ministry.
Lowest
Income
Community
Funding
should go to the parishes where it is needed
(as it does in Blackburn). Better monitoring
of this is necessary in many dioceses where
it goes into general diocesan funds. I do not
support the proposal to spend £100m on
Project Spire in an attempt to address past
connections to slavery, based on dubious
historical evidence.

CONTACT ME
Paul Benfield
[email protected]
01282 424725

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