General Synod Election Candidates 2026

PAUL WADDELL FOR GENERAL SYNOD · SOUTHWARK DIOCESE
Vote for a younger, more diverse, fairly funded, inclusive, safe and creation-conscious Church
Vote Paul Waddell for General
Synod
Proposer: Peter Graystone – Lay Reader and Lay Chair Sutton Deanery
Seconder: Ray Wheeler – Lay Reader Croydon Addington Deanery
I would be very grateful for your support, please consider
voting for me with your first preference.

Why I’m standing again
I am extremely thankful to those that elected me to serve on General Synod five
years ago. I have been a very active member of the House of Laity and there is
still much more I want to help happen.

• We need a younger, growing church – The church
has fewer families, and many children in our churches
are leaving. I will prioritise supporting work to address
this, and bring this focus to other debates where
younger people are often overlooked. I really long for
my children to grow up in a growing church.

• We need a church that’s fairly funded – Parishes
are the lifeblood of the Church of England. I love that
wherever you are in England, there is a parish church
praying for you. With finances difficult for many
dioceses and congregations, I will seek solutions that
empower parishes, whilst not avoiding difficult decisions. Where money is spent to
support fabulous new worshipping communities, this should reflect the wide breadth
of Anglican traditions, not focus on one or two.

• We need an inclusive church – I welcome the progress, however small, that has
been made on LGBT+ inclusion in our churches through the Living in Love and Faith
program. For over 30 years, one part of the ordination process was dominated by the
hurtful and homophobic document ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’. By your sending me to
synod I was able to present the motion that removed it from use. I will continue to
champion work that leads us towards a church that is inclusive, regardless of race,
age, gender, neurodiversity, disability, sexuality, education or wealth.

• We need a safe church – Safeguarding progress, and the response to the Makin
scandal, has been painfully slow. General Synod has been trying to do good and move
towards greater independence in safeguarding delivery, so the church doesn’t get to
mark its own homework, a process which I will fervently support. Caring for the
vulnerable in our communities is central to Christian mission.

• We need a church that cares for our planet – Caring for creation is what God has
asked of us all along. We must continue to respond to the climate crisis by promoting
ambitious and achievable environmental goals for our churches and their communities,
providing resourcing and expertise to make our church fit for the coming century.

PAUL WADDELL FOR GENERAL SYNOD · SOUTHWARK DIOCESE
Vote for a younger, more diverse, fairly funded, inclusive, safe and creation-conscious Church
What I’ve done at General Synod

• I Served on the revision committee for the National Church Governance Measure,
seeking to make our national church structures simpler, more accountable, and more
transparent.

• I presented Rev Mae Christie’s Private Members’ Motion to remove ‘Issues in Human
Sexuality’ from the discernment process. This was probably the biggest moment of
unity found in the chamber during the Living in Love & Faith process, and perhaps the
most rewarding thing I’ve done there in the past five years. For those reading this on
a computer/phone, you can watch me do this by ctrl-clicking here or copying and
pasting this link:
https://www.youtube.com/live/9msrW6Of9Qc?si=f_82xbZ2oXPw2wvu&t=8350

• I have contributed by speaking in the
chamber to a wide range of debates, and
contributed to amendments on issues as broad as
the environment and sports ministry. I have done
my best to build relationships with those who
think differently from the way I do, as I firmly
believe the church is called to unity, and our
attitudes will shape what that looks like in a
church that exists in a polarised world.

About Me
I hail from South Croydon, a place I’ve lived in and
loved for over 20 years, where I live with my wife Stephanie, and our two children, Lydia
(6) and Gabriel (2). I am a licensed lay reader at St. Francis Church on Monks Hill Estate,
where I often also lead worship, do a bit of preaching, and play in the worship band. As
well as my general synod responsibilities, I also serve on the Diocesan Council of Trustees,
Diocesan Synod, and Deanery Synod. I have twice stood to be a local councillor in my
home ward, but it turns out I’m better at winning board games than local elections.

Growing up in an atheist family, I came to faith at 17 years of age, inspired by the message
and actions of a local church that was truly being good news to the poor. My faith inspired
me to turn my back on an early career in banking and train to be an anaesthetic assistant
for the NHS. During the pandemic I worked on the front line, in the theatres and ITU of a
London hospital, seeing at first hand the difference that faith makes in a crisis. I now work
at the Princess Royal NHS Hospital, where I manage a large team of anaesthetic and
recovery nurses and ODPs alongside my clinical work.

Questions? Please get in touch: email [email protected], or
telephone 07540764596.

I hope you will feel able to take part in these elections, whoever you decide to vote for,
and I will be very grateful for any support you are willing to give me, first preference or
otherwise.

In His service,

Paul Waddell

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