General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to read this election address. I’m grateful to Rae Caro and Nigel Taylor for proposing and
seconding this nomination.
About me:
I’m Hannah Cleugh (“Clue”) and I’m Vicar of Monkseaton St Peter, in Tynemouth Deanery. I’ve been here for nearly
five years. Before coming to Newcastle, I served (in reverse order) as Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Ely; Chaplain and
Solway Fellow of University College, Durham, and first as Curate in the Dorchester Team Ministry in Oxford. I’m a Non-
Residentiary Canon of Newcastle Cathedral, and for part of 2025 was Acting Archdeacon of Northumberland covering
Archdeacon Rachel’s sabbatical. I’m a member of the diocesan synod, of the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee,
and currently involved with the governance review of the diocese. Since 2016 I’ve been a Bishop’s Adviser, variously
in the BAP, TODP and now Shared Discernment Process. Since 2022, I’ve been an Honorary Fellow of the Department
for Theology and Religion at Durham University, and over a number of years I have taught for Lindisfarne College of
Theology, mainly Anglicanism, and Liturgy and Worship. I’m Chair of Governors of one of our local (maintained)
schools, recently leading the proposal of a viable alternative to the Local Authority’s plans to close the school. I grew
up in the North-East, went to school in Newcastle, and my parents live in Tynedale. I’m married to David (also
ordained), and we have a daughter and a spaniel.

Why am I standing?
I’ve served on General Synod before (from 2013 – 2017, representing first Northern Universities and then [after the
constituencies were revised] Universities and TEIs), and being something of a nerd, I really enjoyed it! I am keen to
offer that experience, and the experience I’ve gained subsequently to the wider life and governance of the Church. As
a Synod member, I spoke in a number of debates, including around the legislation which enabled the ordination of
women to the episcopate, served on the steering committee for the Mission and Pastoral (Amendment) Measure 2018,
and the revision committees for the Naming of Dioceses Measure, and the alternative texts in accessible language for
baptism. I also served as a substitute central member for two Crown Nominations Commissions. Two things were (and
are) particularly important to me: first, often in church we operate in silos and talk past one another, especially one it
comes to the controversial topics. I made a point while on Synod of building friendships across the church political
divides, and seeking to work as well as possible with those with whom I disagree. Second, I think Synod is often at its
worst when debating the ‘hot topic’ issues; I made a point of engaging equally seriously with what can seem like boring
or abstruse matters. Synod is primarily a legislative and governance body, and good governance matters for the
building up of our common life. It is about how we order our life together and how we steward well the resources (in
every sense – personal, financial, built heritage, land) that are entrusted to us. It is not just about turning up and saying
our piece on the headline items on the agenda.
For a number of years, I have been a member of the board of Affirming Catholicism. One of the things we have done
for nearly every group of Synod sessions over the last fifteen years is prepare a briefing paper under the umbrella of
Affirming Catholics in Synod (ACiS). I have been part of that drafting process, continuing to read and reflect on the
papers which come to Synod over all the time since I stepped down from Synod when I moved to my post in Ely.
My academic theological interests are primarily historical and ecclesiological, asking what it has meant at various points
in our history to be the Church of England/ to be Anglican. These are questions which are as pertinent today as we
consider what it means to proclaim the gospel afresh for this generation, and to serve the communities in which we’re
set so that more and different people can experience the fullness of life held out to us in Jesus Christ.
I’m in my mid-forties, and God willing, should have many more years of ministry ahead of me. I want to be part of
making the hard and hopeful decisions now that will better equip us to be the church into the future, in a seemingly
ever-changing society and in an anxious world. I truly believe that we can do that in ways which do not require
jettisoning the things that have shaped us over centuries, or our commitment to place, or the centrality of the eucharist
as the source and summit of our Christian life. But we have to be willing to make hard and realistic choices as we seek
to discern our common calling in this season.

So what about those ‘hot topic’ issues?
•
Sexuality. I am extremely frustrated by what has (and has not) happened with Living in Love and Faith, and
with the failure to follow through on what had been voted for in Synod. I long to minister in a church where
someone who is married to their same-sex partner can discern a vocation to ordained ministry, where my
LGBTQIA+ clergy siblings do not minister in a postcode lottery, and in which when someone enquires about
whether they can be married in church I don’t have to check whether their partner is of the opposite sex in
order to celebrate their love for and commitment to one another, and seek God’s blessing for their life together.
I am sick of hearing the church apologise for the pain it causes and then do nothing about what is causing that
pain, and if elected I will continue to work, speak and vote in favour of full inclusion.
•
Safeguarding. Again, we do not need more reviews and more apologies. What we need is a commitment to
independence, so that the good work and faithful commitment of so many people to try and get it right isn’t
undermined by poor institutional responses.
•
‘Saving the parish’ and all the questions about national funding. I have a great deal of sympathy with many
of the concerns raised by the campaign group ‘Save the Parish’, particularly the matters they identify
concerning vocation, formation, and clergy wellbeing. Where I perhaps part company with some of what they
say is that we need to be realistic about what mission might look like in all the places and contexts we are set,
and I don’t hear that in much of their rhetoric. We face real challenges when it comes to recruitment and
deployment and wishing that were not the case is not a satisfactory answer. Nevertheless, It seems to me
essential that we work towards a national funding settlement which ensures that parish ministry can be
properly resourced, and especially that there is sustainable funding for the most deprived communities. I
believe there is a place for strategic intervention and project-based funding – whether it be to serve particular
communities, or to address defined questions – but I believe this should be to complement and augment the
provision of parish ministry, and not serve to its detriment.

As well as all that, I believe as a Church we face two urgent tasks over the coming Synod Quinquennium: first, to
redouble our efforts to articulate an urgent and prophetic response to the climate emergency; and second, to articulate
compelling and hopeful responses to divisive and nationalist political rhetoric, in ways which take seriously the
concerns of the many different communities we are called to serve.

Anything else?
I’m a director of Affirming Catholicism UK, and member of the Ecclesiastical Law Society, the Ecclesiastical History
Society, and the Society for Reformation Studies. Our PCC has signed up to Inclusive Church and A Rocha Eco-Church,
for which we received our Silver award in May 2025.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect on this address. If what I’ve said resonates, please do consider giving
me a high preference vote.
Please do, of course, give me a call or drop me a message should you have any questions about what I’ve said.
Hannah
[email protected]/ 07854 143605

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