General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Rev Amy Berry
Assistant Curate Keighley Parish
(Bradford Episcopal Area)

Candidate for the House of Clergy
Nominated by: Rev Canon Richard Burge

Team Rector of Keighley Parish and
Assistant Area Dean of Aire and Worth

Seconded by: Rev Sarah Harrison
Team Vicar of Allerton Bywater, Kippax and Swillington

Dear Friends.

lam standing for election to the General Synod because | believe deeply in the Church of England,
in its calling to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by seeking to serve every community in this
nation.

I’m married to Jon, who is also a Church of England Priest. We have three children who are high
school age and a baby bearded dragon. I’ve felt a calling to Ordained Ministry since | was a
teenager. | spent seven years working for a church as a children’s and family lead, three years as
a community worker as we started a church plant, and since being ordained in 2023 I’ve been
serving my curacy in Keighley. | am a Hub Leader for the diocese’s Mission Apprentice programme
and I’m currently going through the vetting process to become a voluntary Police Chaplain.

| enjoy going to the gym, spending time with family and eating good food!

| love being involved in strategy and governance at a local level, and for many years have followed
the work of general synod. | would be honoured to serve the Church in this way.

Key areas that I’m passionate about:

1. Growing the Next Generation

| am passionate about engaging children and young people as they grow in their faith. | want to
encourage good links and partnerships with schools. | see a big push for our ministry in our church
schools, but they are only 1/3 of the schools in our country. The other schools need our
involvement, love and Christian witness.

| also care deeply about forming and raising up young leaders. With teenagers of my own, | see
their desire to be part of growing the church and wanting to be instrumental in that.

1. Valuing Clergy Wellbeing

Having studied a Business Studies degree and working in various organisations before the church,
| have a strong ethos of caring for our workforce, and making sure expectations are realistic
alongside working conditions, pay, housing etc. As | journey through my ministry, constantly
keeping a check on my own boundaries and work life balance, | want to be part of a healthy
provision for wellbeing and support for clergy families.

1. Celebrating Women’s Ministry

As a female priest, | am grateful for those who worked faithfully to make women's ministry
possible. At the same time, | have clergy friends across different traditions within the Church of
England, and they have a different deeply held theological conviction to me. | hold these

relationships with mutual respect and seek to model a way of disagreeing that is honest but
committed to the flourishing of the whole church.

Having gone through the discernment process, ordination and curacy with three children, | want
to help ensure that women are encouraged in their vocations while they work through what it might
look like to to be a Mum and a Priest. I’ve been privileged to have worked alongside supportive
incumbents and colleagues, but I’m aware of others who haven’t.

1. Caring for God's Creation

The climate crisis presents many challenges for us as the human race, and the church has an
opportunity to show care, protection, repentance and restoration. | am passionate about reducing
our environmental impact, both on a personal level and as a Priest leading in a local community.
| want to support practical and achievable measures that help our churches care for creation.

1. Human Sexuality

| hold an orthodox view on same sex marriage, but | absolutely do not want this to pull the Church
of England apart. | have many friends and colleagues who hold deeply held theological
convictions which differ to my own, and they hold them as passionately as |do my own. Ona local
level we work through this with grace and generosity. | want to be part of helping the church to
continue to wrestle with what it means for us to be able to maintain unity, whilst working through
some deeply painful disagreements.

Thank you for taking the time to read my statement.

Please feel free to be in contact with me if there are any questions you’d like to ask before deciding
whether to vote for me.

With every blessing

Amy

[email protected]

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