catholic,diocesan structures,finance,gospel,liturgy,mission,roman catholic,tradition

GENERAL SYNOD ELECTION ADDRESS – ALEXANDER BECKETT

I am 25 years old and a congregant of Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, where I serve as Head
Server and represent the parish on Chelsea Deanery Synod. I work in financial services in the
City of London and hold a first-class degree in French and Philosophy from the University of
St Andrews.

I am fortunate to be part of a thriving parish church, with a strong tradition of music and
liturgy and, above all, a real sense of community. It has been exciting to see our parish
growing in number and in confidence: welcoming new people, deepening its common life
and discovering afresh what a parish church can be.

That experience is why I am standing for General Synod. At a time when we hear a great deal
about the challenges facing the Church of England, I also see enormous reasons for hope. I
want to bring that same energy and enthusiasm to Synod, and to argue for a Church that has
confidence in its parishes, confidence in its inheritance and, above all, confidence in the
Gospel it exists to proclaim.

I grew up in Northern Ireland as a Presbyterian, in a family with Presbyterian, Anglican and
Roman Catholic roots. That background has given me a lasting respect for different Christian
traditions, a belief in serious theological debate, and a conviction that disagreement need
not prevent us from recognising what we hold in common.

FLOURISHING PARISHES

The parish is where the life of the Church is most immediately lived: where people pray
together, serve one another, encounter Christ and find a community that can hold them
through the whole of life.

Yet many parishes face considerable financial and practical pressures. I believe General
Synod must keep the health of our local churches at the heart of its work. We should be
strengthening parishes, not managing their decline, and ensuring that national and diocesan
structures enable rather than inhibit local mission.

Our church buildings are part of this. They are an extraordinary inheritance, but they are not
simply monuments to the past. They should remain living places of worship, welcome and
community for generations to come. We need to be ambitious and imaginative about their
future and realistic about the resources required to sustain them.

CONFIDENCE IN FAITH AND MISSION

We are living through an intriguing moment. Countrywide, there are encouraging signs of
renewed interest in faith, meaning and belonging, not least among younger people. The
Church should meet that curiosity proactively and with confidence.

Our churches should be places where people are welcomed, loved and served, but also
places where people encounter Christianity itself. The fundamental purpose of the Church
remains the proclamation of the grace of God and the salvation offered to the world through
Jesus Christ; we should not be embarrassed to say so. Synod’s guiding principle should be to
facilitate as concretely as possible local churches’ fulfilment of this fundamental mission.

SERIOUS AND GENEROUS DEBATE

The breadth of the Church of England is one of its great challenges, but also one of its
strengths. General Synod should be a place where difficult questions can be debated
seriously without disagreement becoming destructive. We need members who have
convictions and are prepared to express them, but who are equally prepared to listen, to test
their own assumptions and, when necessary, to change their minds.

My own Christian background has taught me that no single tradition possesses the whole
Church. I want us to be confident about our Anglican inheritance while generous towards
those whose traditions and convictions differ from our own. We should seek truth rather
than victory and refuse to allow our disagreements to obscure the faith we share.

WHAT I WOULD BRING

My professional work requires me to analyse complex information, weigh evidence and
competing arguments and exercise independent judgement. It has also given me experience
of leadership and of navigating complex administrative and regulatory responsibilities. I
would bring those skills to Synod alongside my experience of parish and deanery life and a
willingness to listen carefully and engage constructively.

I would furthermore bring the perspective of a younger lay Christian who, God willing,
expects to be part of the Church of England for many decades to come. The decisions being
made now about our parishes, buildings, resources and mission will shape the Church my
generation inherits — and, in time, the Church we hand on.

If elected, I would seek to represent the Diocese of London rather than simply my own views.
But my priorities would be clear: flourishing parishes; confidence in the Christian faith;
the preservation of our churches as living centres of worship and community; and a
Synod capable of serious and generous theological debate.

General Synod necessarily deals with structures, legislation, finance and policy. But none of
these is an end in itself. They matter because the life of the Church is lived elsewhere: in
parish churches where people worship, children are baptised, marriages are celebrated, the
dead are mourned, communities gather, the lonely find companionship, the searching find
faith, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

That is the Church I have been fortunate enough to experience. It is the Church I want to see
flourish. And it is the Church I would work for on General Synod.