General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Dear Leeds Diocese Electors
General Details:
Roger Lazenby
Age 75
St Paul’s, Ireland Wood, Leeds PCC
Leeds Diocesan Synod – Elected Lay Member
Leeds DBF – Elected Lay Trustee
North West Leeds Deanery
Deanery Lay Chair
Elected lay member of Leeds Episcopal Area Mission and Pastoral Committee
Leeds EA Leadership Team
Why am I asking you to vote for me to become a member of General Synod? The answer is both simple and complex! In simple terms I believe that I have much to offer and contribute to the mission of the church. More complex I believe is that there is much work which the church needs to do, and I seek to have the opportunity to be both involved in that by representing this Diocese of Leeds and helping to ensure that good and timely progress is made with the work in hand.
Above all else the purpose of the church is the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing the knowledge of his love to the people and communities which it serves. The Church of England, as the Established church, has the privilege of being present in some form across the whole of the country. This can be either through the parish system, through our cathedrals, through Chaplaincies or the many other forms of places of worship which have been created over time e.g. those created under Bishop’s Mission Orders. This privilege brings with it responsibilities. I will talk a little about a number of these and how I consider progress can be achieved and what I would do to ensure the Diocese of Leeds plays its full part in such matters at General Synod.
Firstly safeguarding, we are all well aware of the challenges brought about by abuse whether that be of a sexual nature, racism, bullying or maybe the abuse of power when in a position of leadership or authority. Whilst much improvement has been achieved in recent times much more needs to be done to complete this work and fully embed an excellent safeguarding culture throughout the church. There needs to be no further delay in completing this work and in looking after those who are victims of any form of abuse. Such matters have no place in a Christian organisation. If elected I would intend to the best of my ability to ensure that attention is continually given to addressing and resolving these issues.
The Church of England covers a very wide spectrum of churchmanship and theological belief. Too often this leads to the situation where the media and through them the ‘non-church’ person thinks too easily that these are the only matters of importance to the church. Part of this is due to ignorance of both faith and religion in many parts of the media and as a result the ‘non-church’ general public hear a very one-sided view of the church and religion. More effort needs to be made to keep such internal debate in check and to ensure that our communications reflect the real like of the church and continually espouse the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The previous programme of Living in Love and Faith formed an excellent basis for discussion around matters of human sexuality and same-sex relationships and marriage. At this time the outcomes are lying fallow because it is necessary to achieve 75% majorities in all three houses of General Synod before certain changes could be enabled. I believe that to take these discussions forward there will need to be a willingness not only to understand the wideness of views and theological position but also a willingness to find a position, which would inevitably involve compromise, to which all parties can accede. In this I would seek to influence how the debate is structured, the overall tenor of discussion and the engagement with the wide span of views held both within the church and by the public at large. I would not be willing to support any proposal which would be likely to bring division to the church. I think this will be a long road but hopefully exemplified by love, care, tolerance and understanding.
As many of you will know the Church of England can often appear to be a cumbersome organisation, especially from a perspective of governance and its supporting bureaucracy. This is true whether looking at national, diocesan or parish level. There needs to be further work in order to make the church a smarter and nimbler organisation and so to consume less resource either financial or people. This involves change. Many are uncomfortable with change, or the speed of change (too fast or too slow!) and I well know from my working life experience of the importance of good change management. Over the years I have served as a PCC member, Parish Treasurer and Churchwarden so I am knowledgeable of how these issues impact parish life. More recently as a member of North West Leeds Deanery Synod, Leeds Diocesan Synod, the Leeds EA Mission and Pastoral Committee, the Trustee Board of the Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance and of Bishop Arun’s Leeds EA Leadership Team I readily appreciate the wider impacts and the amount of time, effort and resource which is consumed. We desperately need to make the structure simpler and easier to both understand and use. I am keen to ensure and support the making of progress in this aspect of the church’s life. By reducing the administrative burden, we can free up people and resource for proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. A major part of this is using our Lay talent to the best of its ability and so free clergy to spend more time on mission and pastoral work.
St Paul’s Church, Ireland Wood, in north west suburban Leeds, where I have worshipped since coming to Yorkshire over 40 years ago has been part of the Resource Church project for the last nine years. Having been blessed with investment by the church in both finance and people I can give first-hand account of the impact of positive work by both the diocese and national church institutions. I also fully understand that across a widely spread diocese such as Leeds there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for any aspect of the church’s work and mission. We must seek to take advantage of different opportunities as they present themselves and be able to draw on the resources and skills of excellent people, both lay and ordained, to assist and help each other. A brilliant idea in suburban Leeds, city centre Bradford or in the beautiful depths of the Yorkshire Dales will look different in each place, would not be appropriate in the other places but at national level exchange of ideas can be enabled. We need to learn from each other, and I would hope to be a conduit for some of that being achieved. A further part of this is the distribution of resource within the church whether that be people or money. I would want to encourage the further use of the church’s wealth to promote its work especially in areas which have tended to be neglected such as the rural, post-industrial and housing estates especially in the north of the country.
Good communication is key to any organisation. There needs to be an improvement in communication, in both directions, between general synod representatives, diocesan and deanery synods and the parish. That communication needs to be at an engaging and relevant level. I look to helping this happen here throughout Leeds Diocese.
In summary I believe there is much to be done to make the church fit for proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in the third decade of the 21st century. I feel called to serve to help achieve this goal.
Your vote in this election is important and in particular is a critical part of your role as a Deanery Synod member. Please can I ask you to exercise your vote and I trust I can count on your support in this election and that you will give me the opportunity to represent this great Diocese of Leeds. In turn I commit to ensuring that your confidence in me is returned.
Yours in His name.
Roger Lazenby
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07802434782 (phone and WhatsApp)
6th September 2026

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