archbishops,archbishops' council,church commissioners,dioceses,living in love and faith,revitalisation,safeguarding,same sex,save the parish,stipendiary

Andrew Orange

Election Statement as candidate for election to the House of Laity of the
General Synod of the Church of England, in the Diocese of Winchester

Dear Elector,

| have been one of the Winchester Laity Representatives on General Synod,
over the last 5 years, and so my statement here is primarily an account of
what’s been going on at General Synod.

In my 2021 election address | told you that |
didn’t just want to oil the wheels of the
church bureaucracy — but that | wanted
to be part of a movement that would
revitalise the Church of England. The last 5 years have seen some
good initiatives and also some frustrations. On the good side of
things, | have found potential for revitalisation in the ideas of the
Save the Parish ‘STP’ network, and therefore | whole-heartedly
encourage you to give your top preferences to those candidates
who indicate support for STP.

Having had a career in Financial Management (big companies, with a 5 year period in the middle
creating an internet start-up), and also being a chartered accountant, my instinct has been to look at
the way the Church spends its money — and more particularly as to how it might be redirected
towards parishes and priests where it is needed so badly, in place of bureaucracy and distraction
causes. It is extraordinary how, generally speaking, General Synod does not ‘get’ the seriousness of
the challenges being placed on parishes, particularly rural ones like the one | live in. For example, VAT
relief on church repairs has been discontinued by the Government — but this issue was hardly raised
at all in debate. Again, during the period of the last Synod, the number of stipendiary priests fell by
10%, but it was STP who drew this to people’s attention. We are very conscious of the challenge and
as Christians we embrace it energetically, and I’ve spoken in the Chamber about it several times.

One solution is to redirect some of the Church Commissioners income to a ‘New Settlement’, under
which dioceses and their parishes would be awarded a certain proportion, to help them sustain
themselves into the future. A motion to do this came up in July last year and along with Save the
Parish colleagues and many others, of course | voted for this — but the motion failed because too
many in General Synod, including your three other laity representatives for Winchester, opposed it. |
am grateful to the Bishop of Winchester for having abstained in this vote, against this disappointing
tide of opposition. The underlying issue is whether you agree that long term bursaries for the
payment of priests’ stipends is the way to underpin the Church for the future, or whether you think
short-term, one-off grants to a plethora of causes — as happens currently - is a better way to move
forwards.

There are also serious legal issues around whether the money of Church Commissioners is being
used correctly. After looking at the Church Commissioners’ accounts carefully, | followed-up by
expressing my findings in a detailed, formal Concern document to the charities regulator, the Charity

Commission — and it is still under discussion. The Church of England is so lucky to have this money
and if only it were used right, it would act as a powerful engine for the regrowth of the Church. | shall
continue to press for its correct use, and would support the ‘new settlement’ if it is re-presented as
promised for 2027.

The Church is an agglomeration of different charities. Last election, | wrote that | wanted to make the
Church more financially transparent: what | have done in this direction, in teamwork with an STP
colleague, is each year make an aggregation (accountants call it a consolidation) of the income and
expenditure of all the 42 Church dioceses and also its central institutions. This had not been done
before in any structured way, and it’s my hope that we have obtained a lot more financial clarity as a
result of it — it’s available on the Save the Parish website.

Three big things that happened at General Synod:

(1) Governance. Recognising that its central operations could be managed better, the Church sought
to introduce a National Church Governance Measure. Though well intended overall, it was not good
in the specifics. | attempted to introduce an amendment to stop-up the hole that could have led to
further mis-spending of Church Commissioners’ money — but unsuccessfully. However, all Church
Measures have to pass through the Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament, and it was this
committee that noticed the defects that remained in the Measure and — thankfully — stopped it after
all. It wasn’t good that it happened at the last ditch, but we should be grateful to Parliament for its
scrutiny.

(2) Same Sex. If you are a Christian in a same-sex relationship, my heart goes out to you. | am
married to a lovely wife and am not in this situation myself, but | have been sympathetic to those
who — through the Living in Love and Faith programme — have sought to find a way to have their
same-sex relationship recognised in church. In my experience this is hardly ever an ‘issue’ in parish
churches — but General Synod certainly made it an issue, and vast amounts of General Synod time
were spent discussing it with very little to show for it at the end.

(3) Safeguarding. One is appalled to read of some of the abuses that were carried out in the past, and
| have always been keen to move fast to put in place the right structures to deal with it, in case it
should ever happen again. But I’m afraid the Church has shilly-shallied on this issue, failing to set up
the review bodies that are needed whilst at the same time putting too much safeguarding ‘process’
onto the shoulders of ordinary parishioners.

The biggest frustration with General Synod is that we have very little control over the agenda. That is
set by the Business Committee of Archbishops’ Council which tries to please everybody. It means we
debate individual concerns, including the problems of the world, but we fail to stand back and see
the big picture for the Church itself. In other words, we devote insufficient time to taking the planks
(as it were, thinking of the gospels) out of our own eyes.

Some of the above is critical, so let me add that as a Christian | try to keep a strong hold on Hope. In
my parish, we are in the middle of an initiative that is truly transformative, and rather exciting. | am
looking out for the same opportunity at National level, and pray for it deeply.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me:

[email protected]
07788 567013