diocesan board,evangelization,good news,housing,mission,ordination,prayer,sacrament,social housing,youth

JOHN CASTER
Candidate for General Synod

Proposer: Rich Thomas (Vicar, St Luke’s, Tunbridge Wells)
Seconder: Judi Hammill (Vicar, St James’, Tunbridge Wells)

In the last ten years, the world has faced many challenges which we never quite anticipated,
and the church has certainly been affected by these challenges. As the Church is beginning to
show signs of growth following the effects of closure during the lockdown, the General Synod
of the Church of England will bear great responsibility in resourcing and supporting the
church’s mission as it moves forward. I am standing for General Synod because I believe that
I can give a meaningful voice for our diocese in the next quinquennium.

ABOUT ME
My journey to this point has taken me through a variety of places and circumstances. I was
brought up in a small, rural town in Texas. My family were regular churchgoers, and I was
confirmed in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church. After taking a degree in History and Economics,
I began to consider and discern a vocation to ministry in the church. I served as a Parish
Administrator in a large, urban church in central Houston, Texas, and gained experience not
only in the practical aspects of the running of churches, but also worked daily with that
church’s full time homeless ministry.

As I was still in my twenties, I saw an opportunity to spend some time working in the United
Kingdom in a church in a lay capacity. This not only allowed me to broaden my experience,
but also gave me the opportunity to prayerfully consider my vocation. Four and a half years
later, I trained for ordination in Oxford as a Diocese of London ordinand.

I served my title in an outer North London parish, which was a sprawling and heavily
populated Urban Priority Area. In this time, I saw the great value and role of the church as a
source of genuine community in a very diverse and transient population. I carried that
understanding with me to my next appointment as Team Vicar of St Mary’s, Somers Town, in
the Parish of Old St Pancras in central London. In a parish whose history was marked by its
key role in the development of the concept of Housing Associations, I was able to see that
support of and advocacy for our communities is a key responsibility of the church.

Fourteen years ago, I was called to St Barnabas’, Tunbridge Wells, where I serve as Vicar.
During that time, I have striven to serve our parish through our church and school, seeing our
role as making Christ present for all who live in our community. I see Church of England

schools as one of our greatest assets, and an aspect of our wider Christian mission which must
be supported and recognized for their value in our work with our nation’s youth.

At every step of the way, I have seen the fundamental responsibility of the church is
proclamation of the Good News in prayer, worship, word and deed.

WHY AM I STANDING?
Throughout my service in the church, I have valued the role of the church in serving our various
parish communities. This understanding of the widely cast net is at the core of parochial
mission across this land, and I feel I can make a meaningful and heartfelt contribution to those
considerations in General Synod over the next five years.
To that discussion, I bring:

A deep commitment to my Christian faith and an ethic to proclaim that faith and share

it with others

Thirty years of service in the church, in lay and ordained capacities
Breadth of experience in a variety of contexts, including Urban Priority Areas
Significant experience from serving on three school governing bodies (Chairing two)

and service on the Rochester Diocesan Board of Education (now in my third term).

Experience working with homeless shelters and homeless advocacy groups
Work, through London Citizens, to advocate for social housing reform

MY PRINCIPLES
We are facing very challenging times for the Church of England. These times are not just the
result of a global pandemic a few years ago, but that factor has certainly forced a discussion
about a variety of issues which will have significant impact, particularly at the grassroots level
of our mission, i.e. our respective parishes. I believe that the priority of the church must be the
facilitation of the proclamation of the Good News to every person in this land, and that
evangelization of this nation begins at the ground level. Parishes – particularly in many of
the poorest areas – need greater resourcing to turn the decline we have seen in recent years.
We are a church with many contexts and traditions, and it is quite clear that there will be a
variety of discussions of matters which will prove controversial, which will require careful
consideration rooted in a spirit of Christian love and respect. I believe that if our first priority
as a body is making Jesus present in Word and Sacrament for the people we serve, we can
effectively navigate the waters ahead as one body in Christ.

I appreciate your consideration and would be grateful for your support for General Synod. I
also thank Rich Thomas and Judi Hammill for their proposal and second, respectively.

If you think I would be an effective representative from the Rochester Diocese, please
give me your first of high preference vote.

Please pray for me and for all who are standing for General Synod.

John Caster
Vicar
St Barnabas’, Tunbridge Wells