General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Revd Dr Catherine Shelley

Nominated by: The Ven Cat Thatcher, Archdeacon of
Pontefract

Seconded by: The Revd Wayne Simmonds, Racial
Justice Officer & Curate at Huddersfield Parish Church

| am the vicar of Todmorden, Walsden and Cornholme, in the Calder Valley and Dean of
Women’s Ministry for the Huddersfield Episcopal Area. | was first elected to General
Synod in December 2024, in a by election and have enjoyed two years serving on General
Synod. | am keen to be re-elected to continue work already begun, of which more later.

| am originally from Manchester; my sending parish was Ordsall, a council estate in
Salford. | was ordained in 2010 and served my curacy in Manchester Diocese. In my 16
years of Ordained ministry, | have also served in:
e Birmingham, as Chaplain to Birmingham University and lecturer in theology,
e London and Southwark as an SSM, whilst working for the church as a lawyer
e Southwark Diocese, as parish priest in Mottingham, an outer-London Council
Estate and as Area Dean. | now minister in a town with rural and estates ministry.

| have served on Diocesan Synods in Manchester, Birmingham, Southwark and Leeds and
as well as being an Area Dean in Southwark was also a member of the:

e Diocesan Safeguarding Panel and a safeguarding trainer

e Eco-Diocese working group and Environmental Adviser for Woolwich area and

e Diocesan Churchyards Adviser

Before ordination, besides working as a legal aid and child protection lawyer, | was a local
authority councillor in Brighton with the Lead Portfolio for Young People, which means
that | also have a good understanding of public life and the church’s context.

This varied experience gives me diverse perspectives on the Church and its mission and
ministry, and the legal skills and understanding to make a difference in General Synod.

Diversity and Inclusion:

In both my previous and current parishes, | have worked for inclusion, seeking to enable
members from diverse backgrounds to feel part of the mainstream of the church and
enabling smaller support groups to develop confidence and safe space. lam committed
to equality for everyone, in all roles and at all levels of the church, regardless of
gender, disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status, mental health or sexuality and
believe that inclusion is essential to the Church’s mission as we speak to the
diversity of communities across the Diocese and the country. | want to focus on what
we have in common, to build a broad church where God speaks through our different
perspectives and “Christ plays in 10,000 places,” to quote Eugene Peterson.

In Todmorden, with Ruthi Gibbons in Hebden Bridge, we have developed Rainbow Faith,
for and with LGBTQI+ communities in the Calder Valley; welcoming, and welcoming back,
to faith people alienated by negative headlines about sexuality. | supported the Prayers of
Love and Faith and am committed to ensuring that work around LGBTQI+ inclusion
continues in the form of the Working Groups that have been set up since February 2026.

lam also committed to inclusion across the range of protected characteristics and other
areas of inequality, like finance, employment and housing status. In 20231 was diagnosed
as Autistic and have worked with the General Synod Disability group to support work
around inclusion across the range of disabilities and neuro-divergence in particular.

As Adviser for Women’s Ministry, | have worked to promote training and support for
women in ministry in Leeds. | have also worked with Leeds colleagues, including Paul
Cartwright and Christopher Johnson, to build frameworks for Mutual Flourishing under
the Five Guiding Principles. As Secretary of NADAWM', | have worked at national level, on
issues affecting Women’s ministry, through both NADAWM and General Synod.

Throughout my ministry | have sought to live out my commitment to inclusion through
support and confidence building amongst those disadvantaged by church structures eg
| developed and delivered trustee training to enable more diverse, confident leadership
in the church. In July 2025 General Synod approved trustee training for all PCCs.

Missional Frontlines:

| first stood for General Synod to offer a voice for those on the church’s frontlines in our
parishes, estates, chaplaincies and other areas of mission served by those in SSM
ministry, in all of which | have some experience. During my two years on General Synod, |
have served on the Mission and Pastoral Measure Revision Committee, alongside
colleagues from Save the Parish, seeking to improve the legal framework for managing
buildings and parishes and keep the Church present in all our communities.

Though lam from a catholic background | have worked in parishes across the theological
spectrum, as well as the breadth of theology required in chaplaincy work. | believe that
theological breadth is a strength of the Church of England, making it genuinely catholic
and have found that theological diversity can challenge us to focus on our common
mission. | have also experienced this positive sense of diversity serving on the Committee
updating the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy.

Environment:

Climate change and poverty are the greatest challenges in our world, both locally and
internationally. | believe that Synod’s bold commitment to Net Zero by 2030 is prophetic
and working together on the environment has proved to be a significant missional activity,
touching on our common humanity and transcending more sectarian church divides. |
am a member of General Synod’s Environment Group and spoke in the 30x30 debate in
July 2026, encouraging the Church Commissioners to be bolder. | also want to see more
effective practical work to enable parishes to become more environmentally sustainable.

Safeguarding:

| am keen to ensure that steps to improve safeguarding in the Church are both rigorous
and realistic, recognising that SCIE audits have found much good practice at local and
Diocesan level but that genuine independence is needed at National Level. My
professional experience in safeguarding, as a lawyer, trainer, in pastoral ministry and as
a survivor means | have been able to contribute to these debates on several occasions.

| hope that | have been an effective member of General Synod in the past two years and
that you will feel able to vote for me again. If you have questions, please feel free to email
me at [email protected] or Text/WhatsApp at 07711 611201

' The National Association of Advisers for Women’s Ministry

broad church,catholic,chaplaincy,church commissioners,climate change,curacy,disability,environment,environmental,equality,finance,guiding principles,housing,inequality,justice,mental health,mission,missional,net zero,ordination,pccs,poverty,prayers of love and faith,safeguarding,save the parish,sexuality,women in ministry,young people