General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Election Statement – Nicholas Wooldridge
Candidate for General Synod
Revd Nicholas Wooldridge
I love the Church of England, my ‘adoptive province’ in the wider Anglican
Communion. I long to see it continue to faithfully hold out the good news of the
Kingdom of God and make and grow disciples of Jesus Christ. I am keen to help this
happen in whatever way I can and am therefore standing for General Synod.

Background:
I grew up in Australia and in the Anglican Church of
Australia through which I become a Chrisitan in my early
teens. Having trained as a primary school teacher I moved to
the UK in 2008. I taught mostly in Streatham and Sydenham
before serving as a pastoral assistant at St Nicholas, Tooting.
Following theological college (my only time living outside
Southwark since 2008) I was ordained in 2017. Since 2024 I
have serviced as Vicar of St John the Divine in Felbridge
where I live with my wife and our three children (aged 6, 4,
and 2).
Serving Southwark:
I have experienced ministry in Southwark in urban, multicultural Tooting and the
leafy affluence of Wimbledon Village. I served my curacy in bustling Clapham
Junction just one parish south of the river and now service in the most southerly
parish in the diocese, so far south of the M25 that it’s as close to the south coast as it
is to the Thames.
I have served on the vocations team as a vocations advisor and then an area director
of ordinands and on Diocesan Synod (2021-2024). I now regularly attend deanery
chapter and deanery synod in Tandridge deanery. I have benefited from many other
opportunities at a diocesan level including various training courses and the curates’
pilgrimage to The Holy Land in 2019. In 2023 I was honoured to serve on the
chaplaincy team for General Synod’s February group of sessions.
I believe that all this places me in good standing to serve on General Synod and
would consider it a privilege to be given the opportunity to serve Southwark and its
people in this way.

Election Statement – Nicholas Wooldridge
Priorities:
If elected I would intend to take an active interest in all General Synod business
though I am naturally better equipped to speak into certain areas of interest, concern
and expertise. For example:
Gospel Proclamation – We live in a society that feels increasingly polarised
and a world that feels increasingly unstable in all kinds of ways. Yet amongst it all,
the gospel remains the best news anyone has ever heard. The Church of England is
uniquely situated with voices in every corner of the country, to be the people
through whom the gospel is faithfully proclaimed. It’s vital that this remains central
to all we do despite all the other things that, however rightly, demand our attention.
The Younger Generation – It is vital that we are preparing children and young
people to live as disciples of Jesus in a changing world and as we do so, preparing
some of them to be those who lead the church in the future. This should involve
ensuring good provision and resources for children’s and youth ministry and good
training pathways for those who will minister to them.
The Older Generation – Humanly speaking, ministry to the elderly is not a
good long-term strategy for the church. Unlike children and youth, they are
definitely not the future, at least in a worldly sense. Yet they are not only often some
of the most vulnerable people in society for whom we should care but they also have
an eternal future we should have a concern for. I’m keen that this age group is not
forgotten amidst focuses on others.
Clergy Wellbeing – The role of clergy today has complexities and pressures
beyond what it used to hold. I believe a certain level of focus on clergy wellbeing is
helpful in acknowledging this and supporting clergy with it. Christian leadership
that is Christ-like will necessarily be self-sacrificial and costly to an extent yet this
does not mean that it can’t or shouldn’t be sustainable as well and I believe that
looking together at how we strike that delicate balance is important.

I’m grateful to you for reading my election statement. Please prayerfully consider
giving me a high preference vote when the time comes and do be in touch if that
would be helpful – [email protected]
Proposer: Fr Philip Kennedy, Parish Priest, The Ascencion, Lavendar Hill
Seconder: Rev Sarah Alexander, Associate Vicar, Holy Trinity, Redhill

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