anglo-catholic,catholic,diocesan finance,dioceses,discernment,farm,finance,liberal,living in love and faith,pcc,redress,safeguarding,survivors,witness

Tithe House, Buriton, Petersfield, Hampshire. GU31 5SQ
[email protected]
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A Manifesto for General Synod - Ian Johnston

The next General Synod will face the most serious financial, governance and cultural challenges in a
generation. I am standing again because much of its important work has been well started but is
unfinished. Over the last five years, I contributed through committee work, debate and informal
discussion. I am well known in Synod and this experience makes me well qualified to seek re-election.

In my 2021 manifesto I argued that change required renewal of both our diocese and our national
structures. Our diocese has responded well: its plan, structure and staffing have given our parishes many
of the tools they need. I am grateful to have played a quiet part in this significant work of rebuilding.

Yet our local investment in ministry needs national support. Ours is not the only diocese under strain: 37
of our 42 diocesan synods have passed deficit budgets for 2026. This is a national problem that needs a
national response. The central church recast its budget last year to help our parishes through our
dioceses. It was not enough so work continues. A major report has been promised for July 2027.

Against this backdrop, the priorities for the next Synod are clear:
•
Finance: A sustainable, central funding settlement for our parishes through our dioceses.
•
Governance: Transparent, accountable national oversight.
•
Safeguarding: Independence delivered in practice, not merely in aspiration.
•
Living in Love and Faith: Space for honest, patient and faithful discernment.

Finance: The financial situation is stark. Many parishes cannot make ends meet. Dioceses, with their total
deficits now exceeding £60m a year, are struggling to help. Many are combining parishes and slashing
parochial clergy to balance the books - a self-fulfilling policy of despair. Our diocese is taking the opposite
approach, staffing and retaining our parishes; but there are costs. General Synod must recognise, as some
members to their credit are at last doing, that the parish must come first. The new settlement must
endorse this perspective and have genuine local discretion. This is what I asked for in 2021. The work
continues and I intend to be closely involved.

Governance, how we conduct ourselves in the central church and dioceses, has also been a strong focus.
Oversight failures lie behind many of the Church’s most serious problems. Parliament rejected Synod’s last
attempt to improve it – a good decision as I think it would have made matters worse. I voted against it.
Strengthening governance is where I have made, and can continue to make, a significant contribution.

Safeguarding is an attitude of mind; its independence is a structural question. The Redress Measure
becoming law is welcome progress. For the future, however, independence, including the status of the
Director of Safeguarding and even the scope of safeguarding itself, remains contested. Progress is not
completion. Survivors still face delays, inconsistency and processes that can feel opaque or uncaring.
Independence must be delivered in practice and safeguarding must be embedded in our culture. I have
spoken on this and will continue to do so – it is so important.

Living in Love and Faith dominated much of the last Synod, revealing both deep divisions and longing
across the Church but the process stalled, leaving many feeling bruised and uncertain. There have been
small successes so I believe that agreement, not necessarily requiring compromise, is possible. The next
Synod must not give up. I stand in a rather small middle ground, committed to finding a way that respects
and honours those with differing convictions, grounded in Jesus’ command to us to love one another.

Conclusion: I am an experienced and known member of General Synod. With your support, I look forward
to continuing with the late nights and consequential discussions.

I ask for your first preference vote. Thank you.

Tithe House, Buriton, Petersfield, Hampshire. GU31 5SQ
[email protected]
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Who am I - why me?

Buriton is an archetypical, small, rural parish on the eastern edge of
Hampshire. I have been a member of its church since I moved here in

I am, I am told, “a liberal Anglo-Catholic committed to honest

theology, accountable governance and a Church that is intellectually
credible, pastorally serious and rooted in hope rather than certainty.” I
match my parish well. As a long time PCC Treasurer, I have been our
Deanery Finance Chairman, a member of my Deanery and Diocesan
Synods and of our Diocesan Finance Committee. I helped guide my
parish through its dark age but, in common with so many others, it now
faces a serious cash flow crisis. It is very typical.

My history is relevant in a time of change. I was a witness to the major reform of our diocesan
organisation in 2005. Those changes laid the ground for the financial crisis in the next decade. I and a few
others opposed them but my scars have since healed! I continued to disagree fundamentally with not only
the way our diocese did its accounts but also a management style that was, at times, far too
heavy-handed. I opted out of diocesan life. Then, ironically, I had an opportunity to spread my views to a
wider audience. I offered a General Synod manifesto that called for radical change and got elected!

During the last five years at Synod, I have enjoyed speaking in debates, ready to take important but
unpopular subjects seriously. I was, intentionally, always constructive but determined to stand up for good
governance and for the interests of the parish and diocese. On the home front, and I think uniquely, I have
reported back to my electorate after each Synod and will continue to do so.

Looking back further, I trained as a physicist (PhD, Manchester University). I evolved through various
interesting technical jobs into being the Finance and Managing Director of a £50M (in today’s money)
management buy-out that I led and successfully turned around.

This is, I suggest, an unusual mix of experience that is particularly relevant to the problems we face today.

Outside church and having retired early, I and my wife, Maggie, ran a small farm, raising hoggets and pigs.

What I will do.

I will continue to be your conscientious representative on General Synod and take an active interest in its
proceedings, particularly those relevant to Portsmouth Diocese and its parishes. My primary focus will be
to encourage best organisational practice. I will help to promote the ideas of better resourced parishes
and smaller administrations. I will encourage our dioceses to adopt these principles. I will report to
Diocesan Synod but I will visit deanery synods to encourage better communications and to listen to a
wider range of ideas and opinions than just my own!