General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Sarah Tett – candidate for the House of Laity – [email protected]

Headlines
The Lord Jesus has graciously given me opportunities to serve in mission
and ministry in the Diocese of London for over thirty years, both in
Bible-teaching, pastoral ministry and in strategic leadership and
governance positions in the diocese. I describe myself as a prayer book
evangelical – rooted in the evangelical convictions and faith
encapsulated in our Anglican formularies, and recognising my Anglo-
Catholic roots. I would be delighted to serve the Lord Jesus – and the
people of London – on General Synod, to help shape the future of the
Church of England in this next quinquennium.

My vision: I long for our churches…
•
to be beacons of hope to a needy world.
•
to be places where people can discover that their shame and guilt can be dealt with when they
come to the Lord Jesus honestly.
•
to be places where the inclusion, the need to belong, that we all crave can be experienced in
Christ.
•
to be places where the body of Christ, his Church, builds itself up in love, maintaining the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
•
where the name of the Lord Jesus is honoured and magnified.
Do you long for these things too?

Why me?
I have just served as the chair of the Vacancy in See Committee (VISC) for London, at the request of
the Bishop’s Council. Thank you to all of you who responded to our consultation and who prayed for
us as we undertook our work. We experienced a remarkable God-given ability to collaborate across
our differences as we sought to discern what the top priorities might be for our new bishop of
London. This recent experience has equipped me to understand the opportunities and challenges
being faced in our Diocese. As our Diocese is a microcosm of many of the issues happening at a
national church level, this understanding would enable me to start well on General Synod.
• Diversity: We, as the people of London, are diverse socio-economically, culturally, ethnically,
and religiously. We are younger than many dioceses. We have a diversity of lived experiences
and identities. We are more diverse than the rest of the nation. Londoners currently have a
particular contribution to make, shaped by the glorious vision of Revelation 7:9.
• New growth: Many of our parishes, across church traditions, are experiencing new signs of
growth, and this includes younger people who have rejected their atheistic, secular upbringing
and come looking for hope in our churches. We are also seeing an influx of people moving to
London and many come to our churches to find community and to encounter the love of Christ.
Missionally we must be ready!

• Disunity and division: But our London consultation revealed huge disunity – and the
division that results. I read your responses and some were very hard and painful to read. A way
forward needs a humble people and a miracle of God and I have been praying for one! This
disunity holds us back from being effective in our gospel charge to make disciples of all nations
and must be addressed. My commitment is to learn from all of this and help lead change in how
our differences have been faced: in London we discerned this meant being led back to our
gospel vision which unites (see overleaf too).
• Resources: And most responses recognised a real need to grapple with stewardship and
sharing of resources – at a parish, diocesan and national level. This must surely be related to our
disunity. Gospel generosity expresses partnership and is at root a heart issue.
• Safeguarding: We need to acknowledge and repent of failures honestly. We need a proper
theology of safeguarding within pastoral care, so that local parishes and ministers are equipped
to respond well without the risk of it being reduced to mere box ticking. Above all, we need to
love in word and deed those who have been victims of our failures.
My diocesan experience
I have a breadth of experience, which has
taught me how slow it can be to effect helpful
change, and yet how compelling the case for
change is. We need to remember why God
made us his church; the church is different
from social services. Whether your language
be ‘cure of souls’ or ‘church revitalisation’ we
need to get back to what the church is meant
to be and help make disciples for eternity.
•
I have served on three very different PCCs:
St Mary Abbots (large catholic), leading to
Christ Church, Kensington’s prayer book
revitalisation; and now St Helen’s (large
evangelical).
•
I was on the Crown Nominations
Commission in 2017 which led to the
appointment of Bishop Sarah.
•
I have been on Advisory Panels alongside
(now) Archbishop Sarah, appointing two
bishops and two archdeacons. One man
and one woman in each case.
•
I am a member of Diocesan Synod and the
Bishop’s Council; a former lay chair of
Kensington deanery and Area Council; a
current member of the City deanery
standing committee.
•
I have been a churchwarden and a parish
rep in vacancy so understand the pressures
of small church resourcing.
Other related experience
•
My legal professional experience enables
me to assimilate complex papers with a
critical eye and equipped me to chair the
VISC with rigour and independent thought.
•
I currently donate my time to various
voluntary organisations and serve as a
trustee of several charities.
Personal
•
I am married to Richard, a lawyer, and we
have two adult children in their 20s.
•
I have a significant hearing disability and
know what it is like to feel excluded – I
long for the promised resurrection body!

Proposer: Julian Desborough, Barnet Deanery and member of Bishop’s Council
Seconder: Busola Sodeinde, Chelsea Deanery and current member of the General Synod
Please can I ask you to give me your first preference vote, or as high a preference vote as possible,
and together we can play our part in making vision reality. Thank you!

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