addiction,bcp,book of common prayer,broad church,disability,finance,foodbank,gender identity,gospel,homelessness,isolation,justice,mental health,mission,neurodiversity,next generation,pcc,prayer,sexuality,social justice,stipendiary,the society,tradition

TIM HARROLD
STANDING FOR THE HOUSE OF LAITY, GENERAL SYNOD
NOMINATED BY KEITH HOWICK, DIOCESAN SYNOD SINCE 2015
SECONDED BY JOAN GOULD, SWANSCOMBE DEANERY
PARISH • PEOPLE • MISSION
PARISH
Renew and resource local ministry
CLERGY
Support, don't exhaust
LAY MINISTRY
Recognise and release gifts
MISSION
Serve every community
UNITY
Listen with humility
Dear Elector,
I am standing because I believe the Church of England is at its best when it is rooted in local communities, confident in the
Gospel, and attentive to the people it serves. If elected, I will bring experience from life both inside and far beyond the
Church, a deep commitment to parish ministry, and a determination to listen carefully and work constructively across our
traditions.
FROM BANKING TO NIGHT BUS TO LAY
MINISTRY
I was confirmed as a teenager in Canterbury
Cathedral and have been a Christian throughout my
life. Like many Christians, I have also known periods
of doubt and times when I have wondered where God
was.
I spent 30 years as an investment banker in London
and New York, learning about finance, governance,
difficult decisions and institutional responsibility. I
then spent five years driving London night buses.
Night after night I encountered people experiencing
homelessness, addiction, mental-health difficulties
and isolation. Behind policies and statistics were real
people with names, stories, hopes and fears. Those
encounters deepened my concern for social justice
and for communities in which people know that they
matter.
Each of my experiences has taught me something
about people, institutions, responsibility and the
society the Church is called to serve.
In 2022 I began the Bishop’s Certificate and was
licensed as a Lay Minister in 2025. From September I
will co-tutor God’s Word in the World, helping to form
future lay ministers. These different experiences
shape what I would bring to General Synod.
PARISH
I have served on my PCC for four years and Deanery
Synod for two. At St Paul’s, Rusthall, I have seen both
the extraordinary contribution a parish makes and
the pressures under which parish ministry now
operates.
We have faced vacancies among key PCC officers
and persistent financial pressures. Around us,
parishes have endured lengthy clergy vacancies and
the challenges that arise when fewer clergy are asked
to serve ever-larger groups of churches.
Yet I have also seen what local churches achieve. Our
volunteers sustain a weekly foodbank and lunch club
for older people. In 2025 our parish generated £2
million of estimated social and economic value.
Across the country, churches generate an estimated
£55 billion each year.*
The parish is not simply an administrative unit. At its
best, it is the Church’s promise to be present:
worshipping and praying, baptising and burying,
feeding and visiting, celebrating and grieving
alongside the whole community.
That presence matters particularly in poorer
communities. I therefore want not simply to defend
the parish system, but to renew, resource and
strengthen it for the next generation.

Social and economic value figures based on Treasury Green Book guidelines (The House of Good, National Churches Trust). Clergy figures: May 2026 Ministry Statistics.

What I will work for on General Synod
“...making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3
PEOPLE
Parish ministry depends upon people. I have witnessed first-hand the strain that increasing workloads, administrative demands and
expectations can place upon clergy. In 2025, 379 priests resigned while 278 retired; the number of full-time stipendiary parochial
clergy had fallen to 6,295.
Training as a Licensed Lay Minister convinced me of the extraordinary gifts already present in our congregations. Synod should
encourage a culture in which ordained and lay ministry flourish together and the gifts of the whole people of God are recognised and
released.
The same applies to all our volunteers. Foodbanks, lunch clubs, children’s groups, choirs, churchyards, buildings and governance all
depend on people generously giving their time. We should make it easier for people to serve, not place unnecessary obstacles in their
way.
MISSION
Many parishes are seeing new people cross their thresholds: some encountering Christianity for the first time, others returning after
many years away. These green shoots need careful nurturing.
Our response should be confidence rather than anxiety: confidence in the Gospel, confidence in local ministry and confidence that the
Church still has something extraordinary to offer the communities it serves.
Mission is inseparable from inclusion. Every person bears the image of God. I want the Church to be a community in which people are
welcomed, valued and encouraged to offer their gifts regardless of disability, economic circumstances, ethnicity, sex, gender identity,
learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity or sexuality.
TRADITION AND RENEWAL
Renewal does not require us to discard our inheritance. My parish is one of the relatively few churches around Tunbridge Wells still
offering Book of Common Prayer Evensong most Sundays. The BCP has profoundly shaped Anglican theology, spirituality and worship for
more than four centuries, and I want that inheritance to continue to enrich the Church.
But valuing tradition does not mean resisting change. At its best, Anglicanism draws deeply upon its inheritance while finding new ways of
proclaiming the unchanging Gospel to each generation.
LISTENING WITH HUMILITY
General Synod will face difficult and sometimes divisive questions. There will be occasions when Christians of good faith reach
profoundly different conclusions. Our differences should not be minimised or avoided, but neither should disagreement become division.
I will listen carefully, speak honestly, vote according to conscience and seek always to treat those with whom I disagree with Christian
charity and respect.
The Church of England is a broad Church. I believe that breadth is something to cherish. We have more that unites us than divides us.
IF ELECTED
• Strengthen parishes: national policy and resources should help local ministry flourish.
• Support clergy: challenge unnecessary burdens and the assumption that fewer people can simply do more.
• Release lay ministry: invest in vocation, formation and the gifts of the whole people of God.
• Serve every community: maintain Christian presence especially where social and economic need is greatest.
• Cherish breadth: work constructively across traditions, with conviction, humility and respect.
The last words go to Keith Howden who has kindly nominated me:
“Tim has energy, vision and ideas and he is unafraid to ask questions and to probe uncertainties. His varied
working life will enable him to engage positively with all people in all spheres. Tim would be a significantly
active member of General Synod.”
Tim Harrold, 53 Southwood Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8SR - [email protected] - 07413 805814
Thank you for reading my electoral statement. It would be a privilege to represent our Diocese. I would be
honoured to receive your first, or highest possible, preference. Please contact me if you have any questions.