General Synod Election Candidates 2026

General Synod Election Address
Sarah Siddique Gill
I am standing for election to General Synod with a deep commitment to serving the Church
of England faithfully, prayerfully, and courageously.
I was born and brought up in a Punjabi Christian family in Pakistan. Before ordination, I
worked as a Bible teacher in Gujranwala, Pakistan. I later served in cross-cultural mission
and community cohesion projects, including work with churches in Manningham, Bradford,
in a predominantly Muslim area. I have always been deeply committed to ministry with
children and young people, ecumenical and cross-cultural ministry, and racial justice. My
theological and ministerial formation has been shaped by my work in South Asia, South
Africa, and the UK.
Through ministry in different continents, I have developed a vocation centred on mission,
reconciliation, and building up communities.
I began my ministry at St Paul’s Church, Manningham, Bradford, as a Church Mission
Society Volunteer Mission Partner. During my discernment process in Bradford, I trained for
ordained ministry at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in
Birmingham. After completing my curacy at St Paul’s, Bradford, I served as Priest-in-Charge
of Woodhouse Close Church and Associate Minister at Bishop Auckland Parish Church,
County Durham. After five years there, I joined the Diocese of Blackburn as Vicar of the
United Benefice of St Stephen with St James, Blackburn, serving in a predominantly Muslim
context. I am presently Canon Missioner at Leicester Cathedral.
Alongside parish ministry, I have held a number of additional responsibilities, including
Assistant Archdeacon in the Diocese of Blackburn; Adviser to the Bishop of Blackburn on
UKME/Global Majority Heritage matters; member of the Diocesan Vocations Team; member
of the Diocesan Vision and Strategy Leadership Team; and member of the Church of
England’s National Bishops’ Advisers Team.
I have served on several boards of trustees, including Church and Community Schools and
Emmanuel Theological College Northwest. I am currently involved with a number of
charities, including One Roof Leicester, and serve as co-lead of Leicester Citizens, the local
branch of Citizens UK.
Since 2023, I have served as a co-opted UKME/GMH representative on General Synod. That
experience has strengthened my desire to help the Church listen more deeply, speak more
clearly, and act more justly. Synod needs members who understand parish life, cathedral
ministry, estates ministry, intercultural mission, theological formation, and the lived
experience of UKME/GMH Anglicans. I would bring to Synod a breadth of experience, a
collaborative spirit, and a commitment to the whole people of God.
In my present role, my ongoing engagement in interfaith and intercultural mission, equity,
diversity and inclusion, racial justice, children and young people’s ministry, and witness
among communities on the margins would enrich my contribution to the life of the Church.

If elected, I would seek to contribute particularly in the following areas:
•
Mission and evangelism: encouraging confident, contextual, and joyful sharing of
the good news of Jesus Christ across boundaries, cultures, and generations.
•
Intercultural and interfaith engagement: helping the Church develop in
relationships of trust, hospitality, peace, and reconciliation in diverse communities.
•
Racial justice and representation: working for a Church in which Global Majority
Heritage and UK Minority Ethnic voices are valued, heard, and able to flourish in
leadership.
•
Children, young people, and families: supporting ministry that nurtures faith,
belonging, and discipleship from the earliest years.
•
Parish, estate, and cathedral ministry: bringing together local pastoral experience
and wider strategic vision for the mission of the Church.
I am grateful for the encouragement and support I have received from bishops, colleagues,
and communities throughout my ministry. I know the Church is at its best when it is rooted in
prayer, attentive to Scripture, open to the Holy Spirit, and committed to serving the world
with humility and hope.
I offer myself for election because I want to help the Church of England be more faithful in
mission, more courageous in justice, more generous in welcome, and more confident in
proclaiming Christ in today’s changing world. I would be honoured to serve the Diocese of
Leicester and the wider Church as a member of General Synod.
Thank you for taking the time to read my election address. Your support would be greatly
appreciated.

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