General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Diocese of Southwark 2026 General Synod Election Address House of Laity
F. Carter Pilcher

Dear Elector

I am writing to seek your vote to represent the Diocese of Southwark in the House
of Laity of the General Synod.

I have lived in Streatham since 2002. I attend Christ Church Peckham where I am
a Deanery Synod representative, and my Company and office are based in
Brixton.

As such, I have a deep heart for the work the Lord is doing in our Diocese and the
emerging young people full of energy and excitement wishing to know Christ. In 2
years, Christ Church Peckham has grown from 30 weekly attendees to averaging
150 each week—and more than 300 attendees this Easter. Among the Youth,
which I have been helping to co-lead, attendance has doubled and even tripled on
occasion. The energy in our parish lies in the ethnic diversity of those flooding in
from the housing estates in the area, from its young adults -- many of whom are recovering from addiction
or establishing new lives after prison, and from its expanding Children and Youth programs.

There are many ways I feel able to contribute to the Synod, but in more than 20 years living in London, I
have never seen so great a hunger for Jesus Christ among the young, the diverse and those without
advantage.

Much has been written and reported about the decline in attendance and
growth across the Church of England. My career began in engineering,
then law and finance, but for the last 20 years I have worked as a
storyteller building a Company producing and distributing short films
globally. Making a short film starts off every great film career, and to
influence the next generation of the world’s foremost storytellers for
Christ, short films were ground zero. The Lord has been faithful: we built
a global platform of the annual global theatrical release of the Oscar
Nominated Short Films for 20 years and 24-hr cable/satellite TV channels
for short films in the US, Europe & India.

It is these same skills and background that I hope to apply in the Synod –
to ensure we together build a flourishing work among the young, the
disadvantaged, and the diverse to ensure the multiplication of men and women of the UK in the Church of
England.

In addition, I spent 6 years as a legislative director for a US Senator, so have extensive experience creating
and passing legislation and working collaboratively in a legislative body with the broadest spectrum of
alternative views.

It is a great privilege to represent our Diocese at Synod, and I have prayerfully considered the required
commitment. I will devote the time and energy required to carefully consider each issue and will work
with you, the Diocese, to ensure you are kept up to date and have a chance to give me your thoughts and
input.

Sincerely

Carter

My proposer: Amy Bartlett

My seconder: Carol Gumbo
Contact Details:

Please feel free to contact me with
questions:

Email: [email protected]

Phone/WhatsApp:
0786 750 3219

Home: 76 Gleneagle Road

London. SW16 6AF

Diocese of Southwark 2026 General Synod Election Address House of Laity

Thank you for taking a moment to get to know me.
I hope we can meet and I can introduce myself in person.
(There are WAY more funny stories that won’t fit within these two pages!!)
Personal Background
•
Education: Astronautical engineer; US law degree,
Finance Masters Exec program.
•
The Gleneagle Road Household:
o
Unmarried. God is true to Ps 68:6 and sets
“the lonely in families”. Share household with
Ukrainian family who welcomed me into their
family, and I welcomed them into my home.
o
Two boys have grown up here & gone to
university & grad school, grandmother from
Ukraine has joined once the war started.
•
Career:
o
Extensive Legislative Experience: Worked for
US Senator in Washington, DC as legislative
director -8 yrs on Capitol Hill.
o
Wrote & assisted to pass key US k NATO
expansion legislation
▪
Awarded highest non-military
defence award by Poland for this
o
Investment banking advising finance ministers
and companies
o
Film Producer - founded UK company focused
on “Shorts” – short films.
o
Voting member - BAFTA’s film branch &
Academy Motion Pictures (Oscars)
o
Board Treasurer of, US-based non-profit, giving
grants to emerging Christian talent in music,
film, gaming, literature and theatre
•
Personal Relationship with Christ:
o
Raised in Indiana in strong Christian family,
committed my life to Christ at 10 yrs old,
deeply involved with Christian discipleship
from university on.
o
A member of the Anglican church 25+ years. St
Leonard’s Streatham, Holy Trinity Brompton
and now Christ Church Peckham.
o
Church plant to Christ Church Peckham: PCC
and co-lead Youth ministry.
Why I am Keen That You Vote for Me:

I am deeply involved in our parish working with
young people and with Youth in particular. A
growing problem is that the Church of England
has been unable to effectively reach the young
from diverse, less fortunate, non-English
backgrounds. The result is that these young
people easily get locked in lives of drugs and
crime, with no hope & no way out. Yet we are
seeing that these are the very people with deep
hunger for the Gospel and the peace and
security only Jesus can bring. I am standing for
the General Synod to be a voice for these
voiceless, to encourage us to be fathers for
these fatherless.

Our churches need to be places of warmth, to
be centres of their respective communities,
welcoming to all, and equipped to effectively
serve the needs of their parish and of those in
need around them. I uphold and affirm God’s
design on sexuality and marriage and its
absolute beauty. Nonetheless, I am a single,
celibate man working in the film industry, and
can see it is essential that the Church of
England love and affirm each person
individually, as Jesus would if he were in our
midst.

Our churches and our clergy need to reflect the
full scale of diversity emerging in our local
communities, as it is in Southwark. There is a
significant shortfall in early preparation for
those from disadvantaged communities, and it
my hope that there can be training programs put
in place that will allow a flourishing of talent
from less fortunate backgrounds, and from
those who have turned to Jesus from lives of
crime.

My Commitment to You:
•
You may reach out to me via phone, WhatsApp or email and I will promise to respond and hear directly
from you at the earliest possible moment. I will always do my best to be available – I am working on
your behalf.
•
I will always be prayerful about each decision and will consider (to the extent I’m aware and able) how
you might wish an issue to be considered. I am your representative.
•
We have a great mission the Lord has laid before us here in London and across the UK, and I will always
reflect on His Word and His Guidance before I make any decision as your representative. I will always
be aware that I am a custodian of your good intentions – I am your servant.

addiction,celibate,church plant,crime,discipleship,drugs,finance,gospel,housing,marriage,mission,next generation,pcc,sexuality,ukraine,war,young adults,young people,youth,youth ministry