General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Nnaeto Onwuzurumba

Parish / Benefice: St Andrew’s Sneyd Green, Stoke on Trent

I am the husband of Vanessa
and dad to an energetic toddler,
Zikora. We have lived in Sneyd
Green for nearly seven years
now. I serve as a_ reader/li-

censed lay minister helping to cover with the
preaching and leading team while in vacancy. Iam
a member of the PCC and the deanery synod. I
have been a lay canon and member of the College
of Canons of Lichfield Cathedral since 2022.
Within the diocese, I sit on the Vacancy in See
Committee, the Racial justice and Inclusion Task
Group and the Feeding our Faith Board. I am also
a trustee with Sanctus St. Mark’s CIC.

My initial academic and professional background
was in law, mediation and conflict studies. How-
ever, I have worked in early years and adult educa-
tion, secondary school teaching and integrative
counselling. Currently, 1 am employed full time in
the senior leadership team of YMCA North
Staffordshire as head of mission, a Christian

charity that offers holistic support for the flour-
ishing of young people, families and communities
in Stoke on Trent. My role sits at the intersection
of Christian conviction and practical care for
people in real need. I have a vocation in pastoral
care/ chaplaincy in the church and the com-
munity.

My journey has been shaped entirely by the faith I
was privileged to receive, growing up in a Christi-
an family in an Anglican Church on the campus of
University of Nigeria. The Lord used various
gospel workers and church community to nurture
and mentor me with gospel-centred convictions
that I continue to hold fast today in life and min-

istry,

I am standing for election to the House of Laity
because I believe the General Synod needs more
voices shaped by both deep faith and daily,
on-the-ground missional focus.

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St Andrew’s, Sneyd Green

Nnaeto Onwuzurumba — continued

The Church of England stands at a
significant moment. I want to see a Synod
that:

© Continues to steward the historic, biblical faith
handed down to us, while engaging honestly
and pastorally with the questions our culture is
putting to the church today especially as we
witness a resurging curiosity for faith among
children, young people and wider society.

® Puts mission and evangelism first. A church
that is inward-looking will not survive; a
church that is confident in the gospel and
generous towards its neighbours with the love
and hope of Christ will. My work with the
YMCA has shown me what that looks like in
practice, among people the institutional church
sometimes struggles to reach.

© Takes safeguarding seriously as a matter of
ongoing culture, not just policy on paper — and
holds the Church accountable for the wellbeing
of the vulnerable in the community, and both
over-stretched lay and ordained ministers who
care deeply.

© Does not lose sight of problem of poverty,
division and mistrust in society, mental health
challenges and the urgency of courageous gos-
pel shaped social action to serve people and
communities on the margins. Synod’s national
debates can feel distant from parish life; I want
to advocate for young people by keeping the
realities I see daily at the YMCA in front as the
Church wrestles with these conversations na-
tionally while welcoming the missional gifts of
sisters and brothers from the global church.

I offer myself for this role prayerfully and with a
clear sense that Synod membership is about
service. If elected, I commit to representing the
whole diocese — not only those who share every
one of my views — with integrity, availability,
and a readiness to listen as much as to speak.

YMCA NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE

With friends at YMCA North Staffordshire

Proposer
Amanda Robbie, Lay Chair of Lichfield Diocesan
Synod.

Seconder

Linda Robinson, St Andrew’s Sneyd Green
Deanery Synod representative.

YMCA North Staffordshire, Edinburgh House, Harding

Contact

Road, ST1 3AE
Tel: 07951226169
Email: [email protected]

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