General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Revd Adam Roebuck, Election Address as a clergy representative to
General Synod, 2026-2031.
Thank you for the time you are taking to read this address; my name is Adam,
I am the vicar of Clayton, west of Bradford, and I am putting myself forward
to be a clergy representative to General Synod for the 2026-31 quinquennium.
By means of introduction let me tell you about myself. I have had a very varied
experience of church, but have always done my best to use the gifts, talents
and skills God has given me to prosper his Church. I was raised in Huddersfield
as a Methodist, but came to the Church of England through worshipping for
six years (including my gap year) at a charismatic evangelical church in Coventry. After that I became Treasurer
of a ‘new monastic’ Fresh Expression working under a Bishop’s Mission Order in Birmingham, while at the
same time serving as a Member of Council for an Anglican Religious Community in Woking, Surrey.
After returning home to Yorkshire I worshipped in Holmewood, one of our diocese’s most deprived parishes,
where I was a trustee of the Vine Trust of St Mary’s, Laisterdyke (now Primetime at the Vine). During training
and since ordination I have been placed everywhere from hospital chaplaincy to Ely Cathedral, from rural
multi-parish benefices to affluent market towns, and in my current role I am a governor both at our local
church primary school (which my two sons attend) and at a nearby secondary school outside of my parish.
I am running for election to General Synod because I believe these experiences, and the gifts and skills God
has given me, mean that I can bring a significant contribution to the governance of the Church. Throughout
my life I have always had a keen eye for how organisations are run and structured, where power sits and
where there is accountability and oversight for the use of that power. In my previous career in actuarial
consultancy I specialised in governance and risk, qualifying as a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary in 2017,
consulting and advising on good governance with organisations ranging from Russell Group universities to
major high-street banks.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my actuarial career was time I spent in my firm’s technical research
department, poring over new laws, Statutory Instruments and other Government publications to tease out
their meaning, and writing research documents for my fellow-consultants and our clients detailing the
implications for our work. I have brought this expertise through to my ordained ministry, where I have gained
a reputation among my peers for knowing charity law, the Canons and the rubrics inside-out, along with an
understanding of what is best practice for our churches. I have also put these skills to use as a trustee of
overseas development charity Mission Direct, where I chair the Governance and Risk Committee.
This experience would be incredibly valuable for a member of General Synod. We are all aware that the Church
at every level exercises power, both directly over us as clergy, our churches and congregations, and indirectly
through its wealth, influence, status and moral authority. I’m sure we can all think of occasions (either from
the media or our own experience) where that power has been misused. Too often, however, the weight of
that power is not fully allowed for, even in General Synod, where laws are debated and scrutinised which
affect the whole Church.
Twice in the last year, Measures (Synod’s draft laws) of great importance to the Church, the Clergy Conduct
Measure and the National Church Governance Measure, have been rejected by the Ecclesiastical Committee
of Parliament before they could become law because Synod did not establish proper safeguards around the
use (and so potential abuse) of power. General Synod needs more members who recognise and are unafraid

to speak into the power dynamics at play, and who have the skills and focus to bring detailed scrutiny to its
Measures, Acts and other work, expertise which I am eager and able to provide.
Another critical part of the work of General Synod over the next few years will be working to shore up the
financial sustainability of the Church, at a time when 80% of dioceses (including ours) are running at a financial
deficit. Many of you will know my wife Ann works for the Diocesan Stewardship Team, and (although she is
always careful to keep confidence around individual churches) I have seen anew through her the financial
struggles many churches are facing. A decline in giving from aging and shrinking congregations has
combined with rising costs, especially around utilities and building maintenance and repair, to make balancing
the books while paying parish share more difficult than it has ever been before.
The Church Commissioners can offset some of these financial pressures from their investments, but questions
of how much support they can sustainably offer and where and how it should be given loom large over this
next Synod. My background in financial consultancy, however, means that I am used to this push and pull of
financial priorities, and I am not intimidated by the amounts of money involved; I would be well-placed to
ensure that the right support can be offered in the right places.
These issues of finance, however, have only added to the pressure clergy face and the stress many of us suffer
from. The latest reports from the Clergy Support Trust paint a grim picture of clergy who often feel
demoralised, isolated and depressed in their role, and under-supported to achieve everything that is expected
of them in their ministry. The recent generous increase in stipends has been very welcome, but clergy
struggles go well beyond the financial. Support is out there, but it is often not well-signposted, and the hoops
clergy have to jump through to access it can be significant.
My church and I are by no means exempt from these difficulties, but I know that many of us have it a lot
worse than I do, and as a representative of the clergy I would work hard to present a true picture of the
struggles facing clergy ‘on-the-ground’ to advocate for the support we need, financial or otherwise.
As a member of General Synod I would need to be able to work well with other clergy, bishops and laypeople
of differing contexts and churchmanships. I would describe my own churchmanship as Open / Inclusive
Evangelical, but as I described above I have worked hard to have experience of as many differing traditions
and viewpoints in the church as possible.
Through these experiences I have gained understanding of and great respect for the incredible work being
done across the breadth of the Church, as well as an appreciation that this diversity is our Church’s greatest
strength. Over the last few years especially, General Synod has often been seen as being at loggerheads,
driven by factionalism over sexuality and other contentious topics, and with a lack of understanding for the
perspectives and concerns of those we disagree with. I believe this has done great harm to the Church, and
has contributed to a breakdown in trust between wider society and the Church. This is why I am not running
for election under any particular banner or campaigning group, as I believe this factionalism is not what the
Church needs. If elected to Synod I would seek to correct that, and work with other Synod members of every
conviction and churchmanship for the common good of all.
Thank you for reading; I hope it has been informative. If you have questions about anything I have written,
please get in touch ([email protected]), I would love to hear from you.
However you decide to vote, may God bless your discernment in this important decision.

abuse,accountability,aging,chaplaincy,charismatic,charismatic evangelical,church commissioners,clergy conduct,depressed,dioceses,discernment,evangelical,finance,fresh expression,inclusive,methodist,mission,ordination,parish share,sexuality,stewardship,stress,universities