General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Ven. Simon Fisher

Archdeacon
of St Helens & Warrington

Candidate for General Synod –
House of Clergy, Diocese of Liverpool

Nominator 1: Revd Canon Nicola Milford, Rector of All Hallows Allerton
& Area Dean of Liverpool South (Childwall)
Nominator 2: Revd Canon Kate Wharton, Vicar of St Bartholomew’s Roby

Dear friends,

Most of you know me, so I will spare you a lengthy biography. I have served in
Liverpool Diocese since 2011, first as Vicar of St John’s Tuebrook, and since 2020 as
Archdeacon of St Helens & Warrington. I was briefly a member of the last General
Synod from 2019–21, and now serve nationally on the Church Commissioners’
Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee.

I am standing because I think the next Synod will have to make some hard and
important decisions about what kind of Church of England we hand on.

I am traditional about what the Church is for, but not wedded to every way
we have inherited of organising it. I believe deeply in parish, place, sacrament,
the cure of souls and the Church of England’s vocation to offer Christian presence to
every community. But if we want to save the parish, we have to form a Church
capable of sustaining that promise in the twenty-first century. That will sometimes
require quite radical change.

Liverpool has taught me a great deal about that reality. We know what mission looks
like in northern, post-industrial and resource-poor communities. We also know the
pressures: fewer clergy, fewer volunteers, fragile finances and buildings, and
increasing demands on those who remain. Realism about these things is not
defeatism. Synod needs to hear the experience of dioceses like ours when national
priorities and resources are decided.

In particular, I would want to contribute in five areas:

1. Parishes, ministry and money. The Church Commissioners’ resources exist

for the Church’s mission. This is the rainy day. I want substantially more
national funding reaching core diocesan and parish ministry, particularly where
local communities cannot fund the Church they need. But alongside money, we
need to face honestly the growing crisis in clergy vocations and lay volunteering
and all the structural, vocational and wellbeing factors which are making that
crisis harder to face.

1. Laws and structures fit for today. Legislation is one of General Synod’s

fundamental jobs, though perhaps its least glamorous. I know this territory
well! The new Mission and Pastoral Measure and Clergy Conduct Measure
matter; so do further reforms to faculty jurisdiction, episcopal appointment
processes, burial rights (!) and some of the cumbersome processes which
consume energy we need for mission. We still have too many complexities
which assume a level of capacity and of public interest which is no longer the
case, so legislative reform should and will be critical in the next synod.

1. Safeguarding we can trust. We are rightly paying a price for serious failures

in the past. We need genuinely professional safeguarding, proper independence
and scrutiny, and systems in which victims and survivors, clergy, parishes and
the wider public can have confidence. But we also need processes which are
proportionate, comprehensible and actually workable on the ground in parishes
like ours.

1. Unfinished business around sexuality. I would not vote to change the

Church’s current doctrine and practice of marriage. But simply repeating our
positions will not make our profound disagreements disappear. We need to
work towards a durable settlement which acknowledges honestly where
different people in the Church are, protects conscience and allows us to live and
serve together. I don’t pretend that I yet know how that could happen (no one
does) but I have a track record of being a candid friend and a sympathetic
advocate to people of all positions on this issue.

1. A Synod which tells the truth hopefully. I want us to be candid about the

scale of the challenges facing the Church without becoming consumed by
institutional anxiety. Our place in our society is different from the one we used
to have, but our purpose has not changed and God has not stopped calling
people, making disciples or giving his Church work to do. In our time we need
both bravery to recognise what is, and confidence in our vocation to what God
calls us to be.

I would bring to Synod long experience of parish ministry, diocesan strategy, finance
and change; particular expertise in pastoral reorganisation and ecclesiastical
structures; and experience of national governance and legislation. I listen, I work well
with people with whom I disagree, and I am quite prepared to say when I think
something needs changing.

If that sounds like a useful voice for Liverpool to send to General Synod, I would be
very grateful for your vote.

Blessings,

Simon

Nicola Milford says:

I am very pleased to nominate Simon for General Synod, his Christ centred ministry
has equipped Simon with vast, in depth understanding of parish life as both
Incumbent and Archdeacon. Alongside this Simon's broader ministry across the
Church of England and detailed knowledge of the legal complexities within which we
minister and seek to build God's Kingdom will, I believe, enable Simon to be a strong
advocate for equipping and encouraging parishes, clergy and laity across the Church
of England, to fully embody their call and step forward in confidence in this season of
ministry. As a member of General Synod, Simon will bring with him integrity,
commitment, pastoral sensitivity and discretion as he prayerfully seeks and serves
God and His people in both the bigger picture and detail of debates all the while
ministering reassuringly for all God's people in this role.

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