General Synod Election Candidates 2026

2026 GENERAL SYNOD ADDRESS
Fr Peter Fellows Diocese of Truro PTO
Dear Elector,
Thankyou so much for taking the time to read this address. I write as a teacher and headteacher who worked in the east end and south east end of London for sixteen years. Following ordination my ministry over 38 years has been as a curate in central London, a rector in south east London, a team vicar and now with a PTO in Cornwall. I also write as a gay man aged 78 whose loving, faithful and intimate relationship of 31 years ended in death 11 years ago.
The catalyst which has caused me to stand in the current election to General Synod is the defeat of the King Motion at General Synod in July of this year.
The King motion sought to to ask the Synod to accept that faithful, intimate same gender relationships were compatible with Christian discipleship. That motion, although accepted by both the Houses of Clergy and Laity was defeated by the House of Bishops and so it fell. Thus, the 38 years of my ministry and the 31 years of an intimate and faithful relationship were effectively dismissed as incompatible with Christian discipleship.
I have always been guided by the Quaker principle: “walk cheerfully across the world responding to that of God in everyone”.
Through my years as an Anglican, as a volunteer on Gay Switchboard and as a volunteer in a homeless persons unit I was also guided by these words from a highly regarded priest: “the church is there for those at the end of the queue, for those who have the door slammed in their face”.
Despite General Synod opening the door for divorced people to remarry and for the ministry of women to flourish, the defeat of the King motion has once again slammed the door in so many faces.
If I am elected to General Synod, I will seek to shine a light not only on the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community, but also on the needs of others who are often seen to be at the end of the queue. The needs of people with neurodiversity, of people who are without a home, of young people who struggle with their identity, of people with different racial backgrounds and traditions, of people who follow different pathways to God. There are so many people in the church who should come to remember the words of Isaiah 43: “Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are mine …………. you are precious in my sight and I love you”
Finally, I leave you with the mother whose daughter loves another woman and who cannot be married in the church in which the family worships. That mother has now left the Church of England because of the continued bar to same gender people receiving the sacrament of marriage.
I stand for election as an independent candidate, with no affiliation to any voting group. I stand for election for that mother, for all those who are on the edge and for those who, like me, through the failure if the King motion have had the door of the Church of England slammed in their face.
Thankyou for reading this address.
May God bless you and those whom you love and who love you. Fr Peter

discipleship,gay,house of bishops,lgbtqia,marriage,neurodiversity,ordination,quaker,sacrament,young people