church commissioners,clergy numbers,finances,lgbtq,mental health,mission,parish share,pcc,retirement,save the parish,secular world,vacancy,working class

General Synod Election Address: Mr Malcolm Thorne
Candidate to become a Lay representative for the Bristol Diocese for General
Synod, starting in November 2026.
My personal background
I have been a regular worshipper in my parish church - St Luke’s Brislington, for
upwards of 30 years. I was confirmed many years ago as an adult and have
enjoyed being part of a worshipping community. I have served on the present
PCC for many years and have chaired our church Fabric Committee, of which
I’m still a member. I also have served as a church warden for 7 years - three of
which were during a vacancy. I understand about the joys and challenges of
family life having been married for fifty years, and my wife is an LLM. I have two
children and four grandchildren. I quite understand the challenges facing new
Christians who come to faith later in life, being one such person who found
God in adult life.
My working life
After leaving school at 15, I started work as a motor mechanic and eventually
co/owned and ran a small local garage. In 2002, for various reasons, I made a
significant career change when I joined a small team that set up and ran the
first Emmaus Community in Bristol. Emmaus exists to provide work and
accommodation to those who were formerly homeless. My skills and
experience were put to good use in the setting up and running of workshops
and a sales showroom. During my very rewarding time with Emmaus, I
undertook various roles, including that of business manager and subsequently
operations manager. This part of my working life I enjoyed until my retirement
from full-time employment in 2013. My working-class background has enabled
me to work sensitively alongside those who are marginalised by society due to
a lack of education, opportunities and various other difficulties.
My vision
There are various reasons why I feel called to put myself forward for election to
the General Synod, which I outline below.
l am a passionate supporter of the upholding and continuation of parish life
and ministry. I can see and have heard at firsthand about the sad loss of so
many churches and vicarages due to financial constraints. I feel that as a
member of General Synod, I can explore and question how investments of

£11.1 bn held by the Church Commissioners are managed and distributed. It is
my understanding that these monies are intended to provide ministry for
parishes that struggle to afford an incumbent due to the ever-increasing
burden of meeting the required parish share. I feel that General Synod needs to
work to ensure that any present or future legislation does not have a
detrimental effect on parishes, both on clergy numbers and Church buildings.
The parish church in this country was historically set up to be at the heart of
the community and, in my opinion, that vision should still prevail. Due to this
important and significant vision, I became actively involved in the organisation
called ‘Save the Parish ‘, which seeks to implement and maintain that vision –
hence my involvement. If we lose our parish church, we lose a major part of
our precious community identity. I realise that falling numbers of church goers
has a detrimental effect on local church finances, but if we lose our Parish
church, we stand to lose the very heart of the community. Once lost, it
becomes almost impossible to retrieve and re-establish.
The vision of the Church of England is that of ministry and pastoral care being
available to all parishioners as well as other members of the community when
required, such as times of bereavement, weddings and funerals etc. This
becomes harder to carry out when an incumbent’s duties are spread too thinly
across multiple churches. Whilst I value our traditions, I also realise that we
must keep moving forward. We are all aware that we now live in a more
secular world than was the case. However, we must try to adapt to these
changes without losing our identity yet still fulfilling the mission of the church.
To conclude
I would hope to be a Synod member who listens to their church family and the
community voice. I would work towards social inclusion, as I feel strongly that
all people should be made to feel welcome in our places of worship, especially
those who feel marginalised such as the LGBTQ community, those with mental
health issues and the currently un-churched. As the hymn we sing in church
says ‘’All are welcome in this place ‘’ – surely this is the teaching of Jesus – the
Jesus we follow.
I would welcome the opportunity to be a part of the system that brings about
change - not for the sake of it but change for the good of all.
I would welcome feedback or questions on any aspect of my address at
[email protected]