General Synod Election Candidates 2026

My name is Rev. David Sims- I’m the vicar at St
Thomas’ in Aldridge, and I’m putting myself forward
for election to General Synod this summer.
Email- [email protected]
Phone- 07890189390

Proposer
The Venerable Revd Dr Sue Weller- Archdeacon of Lichfield

Seconder
The Revd Preb Jim Trood- Associate Archdeacon of Walsall

A bit about me:
I grew up being taken to church- but quickly found an excuse to stop going in my early teens. I
started to enjoy lots of different things that teenagers find out about, but I always felt there was
something missing from life. One morning I woke up, and just knew that I had to go to church the
next day, and a few months later I heard J-John preach the gospel, recognised my need for Jesus, and
said a prayer of commitment. My early Christian life was grounded in an ecumenical youth group,
held in a Pentecostal church, attended by Christians from Baptist, CofE, and Methodist churches. It
was a real joy to learn together with people who loved Jesus, but who had some different views to
me about a range of stuff.
After university I went into teaching in 2010, married Kimberley in 2012, and - and was extremely
surprised, in 2014, to feel a call to ordained ministry. In our first year of training at theological
college we started our family through adoption- and we now have 3 children, all with a range of
complex needs- and looking back I underestimated how much this would impact my approach to
ministry. I enjoyed a curacy at Wellington, in
Shropshire, and have now been at St T’s in
Aldridge for 5 years- a church with a vision
statement to be a church that is Gathering,
Growing, and Going- real people doing life
together, all for Jesus.
A bit about our context:
St T’s is an informal and lively church, with
growing numbers of families and youth. We
enjoyed celebrating 20 baptisms at Easter, and
have 5 more lined up for September. And this is
one of the things that really getting me excited:
evangelism. Telling people about Jesus is one of the things that really gives me joy- and also helping
others feel equipped to do the same. From Street Evangelism, to door to door prayers, to Warm
Welcomes and Christening visits- I long for us as a diocese, and a church, to be excited about telling

the stories of God that are across this wide and varied diocese in churches of all different styles and
traditions.
Another thing that excites me is trying something new, whilst standing on the traditions of the
church. Over the last couple of years, we have started up some new styles of church aimed at
families- Lego church, where we gather to create Bible stories out of lego, pray, and eat together, and
Wonderfully Messy Church, a monthly church gathering specifically for children with additional
needs and disabilities and their families. I am passionate about church being a kind, accessible
space for those people who are often unseen or forgotten- and we are blessed to find this space to
be one that is growing and thriving.
Why Synod?
I am not someone who gravitates naturally towards paperwork and meetings- but the previous brief
paragraph of our context explains why I am feeling called to stand for Synod.
Evangelism- I would like the church’s focus always to be on Jesus, and bringing more people to know
him- across the range of traditions, parishes, theologies and styles that we see in the Church of
England. In all the motions, meetings, and ideas discussed at Synod, one of the questions I want to
always be asking is How will this lead to more people hearing the good news of the love of God, for
them, that can bring them into life in all its fullness? How can we release the parish to fulfil the call
of God?
Something new- We are in an exciting time in the church.
Across the breadth of Anglicanism, we are hearing stories
of people coming to faith, prodigals coming home, and
people “just turning up” randomly. As well as parish
ministry- school assemblies, funeral visits, weddings, etc, I
spend hours a week online on TikTok- sending Bibles out,
engaging with people online in apologetics or discussion,
leading church services online, and helping link people to
their local church- and I would like to see how the church
can continue to try something new, whilst celebrating its
history and traditions. We do not need to reinvent the
wheel, or come up with gimmicks- but there is a space to
step into the new things God is doing in our parishes.
Kind and accessible. Sometimes we encounter people who
think that the gospel is actually bad news, not good news
of life in all its fullness. I would work for our churches to be
places where people from all kinds of backgrounds and contexts can access services which allow
them to worship the Lord who loves them. One example of this (albeit in its early stages), has seen
me getting in touch with the liturgical commission to look at accessible liturgy for Communion, in
particular for children who are non-verbal, or who have significant barriers to understanding the
language we might use in our services- and I have a meeting lined up with them, so watch this space!
If you have any other questions for me, please do get in touch with me via my contact details on
the front of this- and thanks for reading!
Every Blessing
Revd. David Sims

baptisms,baptist,curacy,ecumenical,evangelism,good news,gospel,liturgical,liturgy,messy church,methodist,pentecostal,prayer,teenagers,youth,youth group