General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Philip Anderson

for the House of Clergy

Rector of Liverpool (Liverpool North & Walton)
Nominated by Sam Nicholson (Wigan) &

Ellen Loudon (Liverpool Toxteth & Wavertree)

I’m asking for your First Preference

Vote to be elected to General Synod

About me
Born in Liverpool, | have ministered

for 21 years across our Diocese.

Relevant Experience

My own experience of being nurtured in a living Christian faith has been shaped
by the faithful witness of many different disciples in churches across our Diocese,
from the Pierhead to Pemberton, by way of Prescot. We have a distinctive story to
tell about what God is doing in our city and diocese, and | am keen to serve as a
member of the General Synod to stand up for the best deal for Liverpool.

| have been a Vicar, Rector, University Chaplain, Area Dean, and a Residentiary
Canon of our Cathedral; a member of the diocesan Vocations Team, and a
national Vocations Advisor, helping to shape policy and practice to support more
candidates for ordained ministry from working class and minority communities.
From 2014-20 | was part of the Transforming Wigan Project, one of the Church’s
first national Strategic Development Fund initiatives. From 2021 to 2024 | was a
member of the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission which gave me good
insights into how the Church works nationally. And still | want to stand for Synod.

Since 2022 I’ve convened LGBT+ clergy and diocesan staff, calling on the Bishop
and Synod, to proclaim God's blessing on committed same-sex couples. As
Rector of Liverpool, | convene Merseyside’s Faith Leaders, to talk across our deep
theological divisions, to be able to work together for the common good.

Priorities for the
General Synod

Regaining our Confidence in God

| believe that the Church of England has as an
incomparable opportunity to re-engage our
fearful culture with the Christian Gospel,
intelligently presented, in the rich tradition of
Anglican worship, preaching, and everyday
holiness. We have experienced significant
decline, and need to be honest in naming it as
such, without despair.

| will be looking to work with others in Synod
to uphold our best heritage, as a particular
treasure that belongs to everyone in our
nation, has inspired our greatest artists, and in
fractious times can bind people together, by
the grace of God.

Resourcing the Parish

| will lend my support to those seeking a new
settlement around the distribution of our
Church’s historic assets, held by the Church
Commissioners, to alleviate the growing
burden of parish share. Liverpool has asked as
a Diocese for a fairer endowment from those
shared funds, and met significant resistance.
We need to build alliances to prevail.

This includes casting a sceptical eye on the
Commissioners’ Project Spire plans, which
have been so badly communicated as to act as
a serious handbrake on our stewardship,
however well-intentioned.

Serving Everyone

It is wonderful that God has gathered so many
diverse saints within the Church of England,
but we should not make division our goal. |
am an advocate for the parish church, but we
have drifted too far towards a postcode lottery
around what is offered to God and God's
people. The pragmatic path adopted around
the remarriage of divorced people offers a
template around respecting conscience
without falling into the incoherence that

[email protected] @PG Anderson

enables bad behaviour hiding behind
theological differences, hampering God’s
mission.

A Safer Church

In 2025, when at Liverpool Cathedral, the
Channel 4 News cameras were trained on me,
and those leaving Evensong - a Church in crisis
over Safeguarding. | support the use of
national funds for independent Safeguarding
teams for every diocese. These should grow in
wisdom about the realities of parish life, with a
culture that enables rather than suppressing
the Church’s creativity and desire to serve.
Like many clergy | have concerns about the
boundaries of Safeguarding being abused by
the vexatious, and welcome the work of the
previous Synod reforming Clergy Discipline,
in that light.

Clergy Welfare
As amember of General Synod, | would also

become a member of the Diocesan Synod, and
in both roles would look to work with others
to ensure that the recent uplift in the clergy
stipend is sustained, after years of erosion by
inflation. Liverpool Diocese is widely
recognised as having some deep-seated
failings around decent clergy housing, and in
2020/21 we lost Fellfeld, the beautiful house in
the Lake District given to us and our families
as an affordable place to go on holiday. Clergy
wellbeing is also about accountability, and |
will work with others to steer us back towards
conversations that are pastoral, and about
prayer, not narrowly managerial.

Please entrust me with your vote,

accountability,archbishops,church commissioners,clergy discipline,clergy housing,clergy welfare,clergy wellbeing,disciples,gospel,housing,independent safeguarding,justice,lgbt,mission,parish share,prayer,project spire,racial justice,remarriage,safeguarding,same sex,same-sex couples,stewardship,stipend,tradition,vocations,witness,working class