General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Candidate for the House of Laity, Canterbury DioceseCandidate Name: Philip Edwards
Dear Elector and Colleague,
Thank you for taking the time to read this address and for your part in electing representatives to General Synod. I am writing to let you know why I am standing for election and to share a little about my background, commitments and views.
About Me
Faith & Family: I was raised in a Christian family as a child and came to develop my faith on my own terms in early adulthood. Although I didn’t attend church regularly in my full-time working years, I now regularly attend church on Sunday mornings. I am married to Julie and we have two children.
Local Church: I worship at St Peter’s church in Canterbury, where I serve as a PCC member and share Lay reader duties with others. I am also involved in our local Deanery Synod and volunteer for church sitting to enable our church to open up to visitors, pilgrims and local residents.
Work & Life Outside Church: I am now active in retirement in a number of volunteer roles. I have previously spent 50 years working in the Civil Engineering sector and much of this has been spent in management positions which has given me practical experience in managing people, negotiating with trade unions, listening to diverse groups, managing budgets, and collaborative decision-making.
My Recent Experience
I am currently acting as a Project Manager for a fundraising appeal to raise the necessary funds to carry out essential repairs to our wonderful medieval church building. My other activities are volunteering for the local foodbank and supporting Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to help clients find a way out of debt. In my role as PCC member and Deanery Synod member I am keen to stay connected between local parish life and national church decisions to enable me to be informed and take a wider view that includes what is happening at local and national church levels outside of my local parish as well as within our own parish.
Why I Am Standing
If elected to General Synod, my priorities will focus on:
Making Christianity more accessible in order to grow congregations at local Parish level. I will look for potential opportunities in which national resources can be used at local level to encourage the growth of local congregations.
Make a contribution where appropriate to the challenges facing the Church of England and issues that government are facing where the Church of England can help and support.
My approach:
My approach will be one of reconciliation and listening, and when the opportunity for me to speak arises I will engage in respectful dialogue, and always aim to navigate complex and sensitive disagreements with grace, empathy, and mutual respect.
My position on some of the challenges and opportunities for the Church and/or the Government are as follows to give you an idea of my thoughts and potential contributions:
Rough Sleeping and Homelessness
Our new Prime Minister in his first speech made a commitment to eradicate rough sleeping and prevent homelessness. Churches have been providing night shelter during the winter months in past years and I have volunteered for this in the past. However, this is mostly now considered to be outdated and is being replaced with initiatives to provide year-round solutions, permanent supported housing, and preventative measures to help individuals secure long-term tenancies. This is a positive step and I hope and pray that our new government will be supporting this and be successful with this. However, I feel the Church has a role to play in this as follows. In my view Christians Against Poverty (CAP) could be promoted and its use encouraged more as a preventative measure to help those in debt from falling into the homelessness net. CAP relies on volunteers and funding and its wider exposure to help this problem will promote Christianity, Christian values and result in fewer people becoming homeless. Therefore, I will seek opportunities to promote this view.
Climate change - Heatwaves
This is a topical subject following another record-breaking summer. We have been opening our church doors to visitors in the centre of Canterbury in recent months but with more resources this could become more regular. Churches are suitably cooler places to escape the heat during heatwaves and encouraging local communities to share our wonderful spaces can promote the Christian experience as well. When we have opened our doors during the week (outside of regular services), our numbers increased on the hotter days as expected. This may seem a lower key issue but securing resources for this in our city and other cities and towns as a CofE wide initiative seems a worthwhile project to me.
Prison capacity
This is another topical subject which our government is wrestling with. Over the past two years I have been volunteering in support of Christian courses for inmates which are run by the Prison Chaplaincy. I have had first-hand experience of prisoners that have taken the courses and followed a Christian path which has led to rehabilitation and the prospect of avoidance of reoffending. This is an area where the Church of England can play a national role in supporting Prison Chaplaincies around the country which will contribute to an easing of the prison capacity burden and an opportunity for offenders to find a Christian path. I will seek opportunities to promote this if and when it arises.
Living in Love and Faith
In the early part of this year the House of Bishops provided a statement to the wider church on ‘Living in Love and Faith’. This sets out their position, how the past has not been kind to the LGBTQI+ community and their intention to address this in the future with kindness and love. The ‘Living in Love and Faith’ process is concluded as a Synodical process and seeks to identify the next stages of work which will need to be considered by the House of Bishops and the General Synod in the coming years. My own view on this is that I support the House of Bishops statement of reflection and proposals for Prayers of Love and Faith as an optional and pastoral provision. I also feel that the right thing to do at this point is to respect all viewpoints and keep the church united under the leadership of the House of Bishops recommendations. In my view there needs to be a period where ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’ are implemented and reviewed thoroughly before further steps are considered.
Conclusion
The decisions made over the next five years are vital for our future. I would be deeply grateful for your vote, and—win or lose—for your prayers as we seek God’s guidance together.

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