General Synod Election Candidates 2026

DAVID DURLACHER
Candidate for General Synod • Diocese of London • 2026

I am here to serve the Church — and to serve you.

ABOUT ME
I am a committed Christian, shaped by the historic, apostolic
faith at the heart of Anglicanism, and convinced that the gospel
of Jesus Christ is good news for every person in our nation.
CEO of Julius Baer International Ltd, with 26 years in UK
financial services: overseeing a multi-billion business, caring
about our clients, culture and team, and being held accountable
to regulators, boards and clients. The firm has been named in the
Sunday Times ‘Best Places to Work’ three years running. I believe
in the importance of strong mental health as a bedrock in
healthy workplaces, and I am a trained Mental Health First Aider.
Churchwarden for 10 years of St Botolph’s Aldersgate, a mission-
focussed church in the City Deanery; I previously served 10 years
as treasurer: I know how much our churches depend on
disciplined fundraising and strong financial stewardship.
Council Member of Oak Hill Theological College in North London
since 2023, involved in training the next generation of church
leaders. Previously a state-school governor in Mile End, and for
the past 18 years a trustee of a Christian charity serving in Essex.
My faith is not a private matter. It is the foundation of everything
I do and care about — in business, in governance, and in the
Church.
WHY I AM STANDING
I am standing because I care deeply about the future of the Church,
and that the gospel of Jesus Christ should be proclaimed in every part
of our diocese and nation. There is so much spiritual need around us
in London and across the UK that can only truly be answered in the
gospel and by grace.
Media headlines about the Church of England describe us as a ‘Church
in Decline’. But why should that be the case? The apostolic gospel, as
proclaimed 2,000 years ago, is as relevant to the world as much today,
as it was then. Nothing else has the power to save and to transform
lives, and we must be bold and witness to it throughout our country.
Archbishop Sarah, in her first presidential address, said she was called
not to ‘develop new programmes and initiatives, but to be a
shepherd.’ That is the spirit in which I offer myself: not to build a
platform, but to serve you.
I am here to serve the churches and the people of our diocese —
bringing everything God has given me in service of the whole Church.
My mother, Mary Durlacher, served with distinction on General Synod
for the Diocese of Chelmsford over 15 years. Her example of grace and
faithful, sacrificial service in this role is the standard I want to hold
myself to.

THE DIVISIONS HURT — BUT WE MUST HOLD ON TO THE TRUTH AND TO HOPE
The past years have not been easy. The Living in Love and Faith process sought to bridge divides, but it opened wounds that for many still
feel raw. Many who hold to the apostolic and historic teaching on marriage, as I do, felt unheard, sidelined, or subject to accusations that
were not always gentle. The same was said by those who took different theological positions. The result has been that our Church has felt
more ‘tribal’, and less united than ever before.
“The grit is real — it is not just uncomfortable — at times it can be deeply painful. Only by finding the humanity and the courage to
remain in one another’s presence do we truly become places where the pearl can be formed.”
— Archbishop Sarah, Presidential Address, February 2026
We have been here before — and the Church found a way through. The debate over women bishops took five years of thorough, often
painful dialogue — every aspect examined, every theological and pastoral concern heard, with Scripture, tradition, and reason all carefully
brought to bear. The Five Guiding Principles that emerged from that process were not a compromise but an achievement: a structural
provision and framework in which genuine theological difference could be held together with integrity and mutual respect. That
architecture of mutual flourishing must not be abandoned; it should be honoured, extended, and built upon.
I am not standing to relitigate the past. I am standing to be a voice — honest, principled, and gracious — for a future in which all traditions
flourish as the Five Guiding Principles intended, with genuine mutual flourishing rather than mere tolerance.
There is a danger we must resist together. Recent debates in the London Diocesan Synod around truth and reconciliation have reminded
us of a critical principle: it is not the culture of the age that should determine the doctrine of the Church, but the living witness of Scripture,
tradition, and reason held carefully together. The breadth and diversity of the Church of England is one of its greatest gifts — but that
breadth depends on trust, on covenant, on the willingness of each tradition to honour the place of the other. We must be wary of jettisoning
the mechanisms — hard-won through years of painful discernment — that hold this diverse family together.
The real strength of the Church lies not in top-down directives. It lies in the faithful men and women in every deanery and every parish:
the churchwarden who unlocks the building on a dark February morning, the treasurer who coaxes another few hundred pounds out of a
stretched congregation, the lay reader who visits the housebound. That local, diverse life of the Church — rooted in communities, not in
committees — is our inheritance and our future. It must be protected, empowered, and trusted.

THE EXPERIENCE I CAN BRING TO SYNOD
Finance & Governance
26 years leading in one of the most regulated and scrutinised
environments in our capital city. I can read a budget, challenge a
business case, scrutinise compliance and hold executives to
account. Synod’s decisions carry real financial weight — and
missional consequence.
Accountability & Trust
I have built cultures of accountability from the ground up,
including recovering a damaged regulator relationship. I also
know, from my lived and current professional experience, that
trust must be earned from integrity and consistency.
Theological Grounding
As a Council Member of Oak Hill Theological College, I work
alongside those training the next generation of evangelical clergy.
I take Scripture seriously and engage in the Church’s theological
debates with rigour and care.
Parish Roots
I firmly believe in an ‘every member ministry’, where each
believer is a partner in the gospel, entrusted with the Great
Commission. I understand what faithful parish ministry looks like
— and what it truly costs the people who give themselves to it.

WHY VOTE FOR ME
• Finances scrutinised: the financial pressures facing our churches are acute — not merely in maintaining historic buildings, but in
sustaining stipendiary ministry and finding the resources to invest in evangelism and growth. As a former church treasurer, I know
from personal experience how much depends on disciplined fundraising, creative stewardship, and a realistic understanding of what
parishes can bear. As a CEO in the UK financial services industry, I understand the importance of financial planning and investing for
growth. I will ask the hard questions about how national Church funds are raised and spent, and ensure parish voices are heard
when those decisions are made.
• Convictions represented: those who hold to the Church’s historic, apostolic teaching deserve a genuine voice at the table. I will
speak clearly and graciously for those who feel the Church has not yet truly listened, and seek to understand the views of those who
hold different theological perspectives.
• Clergy supported — and our future clergy, considered: I will use my governance experience to advocate for clearer, fairer
processes, proper support structures, and safeguarding systems that genuinely protect the vulnerable. But I also believe we face an
urgent question that is not yet receiving the attention it deserves: given so many will retire in the coming years, who are the clergy
of the future, how are we going to identify them, and how are we going to train and support them well? These are not abstract
questions; they go to the heart of whether we will have a church worth handing on.
• Children championed: as a former school governor of a school in the heart of Mile End, I care deeply about Christian education and
will stand up for our church schools and the Christian values they exist to embody. The future of the Church will lie in their hands.
• Our church served — good governance is essential. Good governance — transparent, accountable, genuinely inclusive of
grassroots — is not an optional extra; it is a form of love for those we serve. I share Archbishop Sarah’s charge to ‘help the Church
love itself more, believing its best days are still to come’.

A PERSONAL WORD
I believe that the Bible is God’s unchanging word, fully trustworthy and sufficient for life, wholeness and godliness.
I also believe, with Archbishop Sarah, that we are ‘limited in our understanding, fragile in our humanity, and in need of one another.’ I am
not standing to be a combatant. I am standing to be a servant — one who will say what needs to be said, with as much grace as I can muster.
There are people in every church in this diocese who hold these convictions but feel that too few speak for them at national level. I want
to be that voice: not a champion of a narrow cause, but a representative of the broad, historic, apostolic faith that has always been at the
heart and root of Anglicanism — and which I believe holds the key to a flourishing future for the whole Church.
I would be delighted to discuss any of this with you, to hear your concerns and perspective. Please do get in touch.

I hold the faith once delivered to the saints — with conviction, with humility, and with love for this Church and for you.
Please would you give me your first preference vote?

Proposed by: Busola Sodeinde Seconded by: Hugh Gittins
Contact: [email protected]

accountability,archbishop,church schools,discernment,doctrine,evangelical,evangelism,finance,finances,good news,gospel,great commission,guiding principles,inclusive,living in love and faith,marriage,mental health,mission,missional,next generation,safeguarding,scripture,stewardship,stipendiary,tradition,witness,women bishops