General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Tom Woolford
Candidate for the House of Clergy in General Synod
Proposed by the Rev’d Lesley Hinchcliffe, Seconded by the Rev’d Hannah Boyd
About me
I have been Vicar of All Saints’, New Longton
since 2020 and was recently appointed Assistant
Area Dean, working with the Rev'd Hannah
Boyd. Alongside parish ministry, I'm a tutor in
theology at Emmanuel Theological College, and
a training incumbent for a curate-in-charge at
Leyland. Before ordination I completed a PhD in
history and taught political philosophy at
Cambridge. I'm married to Julie and we recently
welcomed our sixth daughter into the world.
Outside church and family life, I remain a keen
(though very average) cricketer and a keen (and
slightly more proficient) pub quizzer!
I was elected to General Synod in 2021 and served for the first half of the quinquennium, before
resigning my seat to spend a year as Theology Advisor to the House of Bishops. I therefore have
experience both as an elected member of Synod and of the structures of the National Church
Institutions, working with bishops and others across different traditions and viewpoints on some
of the most difficult questions facing us.
Why I’d like your vote
I love the Church of England: its reformed and catholic heritage; its Scriptural, liturgical and
sacramental worship; its commitment to pastor and evangelise through the parish system; and its
place within the worldwide Anglican Communion. I want to help preserve and renew this precious
inheritance while helping the Church respond faithfully and imaginatively to a changed and
changing world.
During my previous time on Synod, I sought to make a practical difference. Among other
contributions in debates and committees, I led Blackburn’s Diocesan Synod Motion seeking to
abolish wedding fees, successfully amended legislation to strengthen PCC control over the
disposal of parish land during vacancies, and represented the Church of England at the Church of
Ireland’s General Synod.
If elected, my particular priorities will be:

The Parish. I am standing as a Save the Parish candidate and support its
manifesto pledges. Blackburn is blessed with bishops, senior clergy and
a DBF committed to parishes and maintaining clergy numbers;
nationally, the picture is less encouraging. I want much more of the
Church Commissioners’ available resources directed towards sustaining
ordinary parish ministry, relieving pressure on parish share and reducing
the financial incentive to create ever-larger benefices. This matters because the parish is
fundamentally missional. In New Longton I have seen flourishing work among children and
young people and baptism families bring the Church into relationships with people beyond

our regular congregations. Weddings, funerals, baptisms, schools and everyday pastoral
ministry remain extraordinary opportunities to serve our communities and share the
Gospel.

Safeguarding. As Theology Advisor I prepared papers for the
House of Bishops and General Synod on safeguarding and the
episcopal office; and have subsequently participated in a series of
national se minars on safeguarding and theology. I want
arrangements
which
improve
safety,
transparency
and
accountability, while ensuring that pastoral responsibility is not simply outsourced and that
the proper scope of safeguarding policy and procedure remains clearly defined.

Sexuality. I remain personally committed to the Church’s doctrine
of marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman. I
am just as committed to ensuring all people, no matter their
sexuality and relationship status, feeling and being fully welcomed
and included in the life of the church. As Theology Advisor, I worked extensively on LLF and
the Prayers of Love and Faith, earning the trust and respect of people with very different
convictions to my own. The uncertain and unsatisfactory conclusion to the LLF process late
on in the last quinquennium seems, in retrospect, to have been inevitable: the doctrinal,
legal, and ecclesiological questions and constraints, and the lack of a clear majority in any
House in either direction made real progress intractable. I do not know what is likely to be
brought to Synod in the next five years: I can only promise to judge future proposals
carefully on their theological, legal, ecclesiological and pastoral merits.

Mutual Flourishing. I personally hold a traditionalist understanding of
holy orders and want a vibrant future for clergy, ordinands and
parishes who share it. I also sincerely want ordained female
colleagues to thrive in their ministry as priests and bishops – as I hope
my friendships, working relationships and commitment to the
formation of female ordinands have demonstrated. I therefore want
to ensure that the 2014 settlement remains in place, while hoping
that modest changes could be made to improve the experiences of ordained women and
traditionalist catholic and complementarian evangelical clergy within its provisions.

Vocations and formation. My experience as a theological educator,
supervisor of ordinands, and training incumbent has deepened my
heart for calling, forming, and retaining priests. Sustaining the parish
system requires enough well-formed and well-supported clergy to
serve it. I will be closely interested in matters related to discernment
and theological education.
The next Synod will face serious choices about money, ministry, safeguarding, and the structures
of our common life. Some things in the national Church need to change, but my experience in
Blackburn gives me confidence that when parishes and clergy are trusted, supported and properly
resourced, much can flourish.
Since first standing in 2021, I have gained considerably more experience of Synod, the House of
Bishops and the workings of the national Church. I would like to put that experience at the service
of the clergy and parishes of Blackburn Diocese and of the wider Church of England.
Please feel free to contact me by email ([email protected]) or phone (01772 613347) to
discuss anything I have mentioned here or to ask any further questions. I would be very grateful
for your first preference vote, and almost as grateful for your second or third!

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