General Synod Election Candidates 2026

JAMES KENNY
Priest-in-Charge of St Martin w. St Michael
& St Saviour, Scarborough.
PROPOSED BY: Tom Bates-Bourne,

    Vicar of South Thornaby

SECONDED BY: Jenny Rankin
Associate Vicar of AST Church, Hull
WHY AM I STANDING FOR GENERAL SYNOD?
Well honed, balanced, and accountable governance has always been the best way to
support the ministry of the Church of England to flourish. This has become evident
to me over the last ten years as I have progressed through being in the discernment
process, an ordinand, a curate, and now an incumbent in the Diocese of York.
I believe that our General Synod representatives in the House of Clergy should not
just be proponents of single issue parties or headline policies, but must
• know the needs and challenges of the people that they represent,
• and not be afraid to ask difficult questions to challenge, test, and contest (when
needed) the proposals brought to the Synod, on behalf of those that they represent.
If elected, I will try to do this as faithfully as I can.
I am standing as a candidate for Save the Parish as I believe that the
parish system, properly resourced, remains the best way for the
Church of England to be present in every community in this country
and be • faithful to its inheritance,
• confident in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ,
• and equipped to hand on the faith to future generations.
In short I want to,
• Ensure that parish churches, rooted in their communities and contexts, retain
agency and meaningful recourse to advocate for their interests within the decision
making processes in the local, diocesan, and national church context. This is
particularly important for churches facing a vacancy. To do this will mean paying
close attention to the details of all relevant proposals to examine whether any
changes will alter the balance of decision making away from parish representatives, or
create legal loopholes that remove parishes from decision making processes.
• Encourage honesty in how we debate as a church. The handling of the LLF process
has caused a lot of distrust across the church. It was evident to many of us from the
beginning that the proposals would need a two thirds majority to pass, but it was
often presented that it could be progressed through other ways that would not need
a majority consensus. In all our debates, and especially on doctrine, we need
honesty from all viewpoints about the intended outcomes of the proposals that are
put forward, and respect for the integrity of both those who seek change and those,
like me, who could not support a departure from our inherited catholic doctrine.
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• Advocate for directing appropriate funding for front line ministry in order to
avoid repeating the expensive experimental SDF (or SMIIB) projects of recent years
that come and go (such as Multiply), and to ensure that spending on
administration directly supports parish ministry in provable ways. Furthermore
we need to prioritise resourcing ministry to young people in parish contexts to
support clergy in handing on the faith to future generations.
• Campaign to protect the wellbeing of the clergy through making sure that posts
are not unrealistic in their expectations, that there is appropriate diocesan
support in place for the diverse needs of the clergy, and that clergy are not
overburdened by their duties. There needs to be careful attention to the
implementation of the new Clergy Conduct Measure to ensure that it treats clergy
fairly and enables appropriate support. The care of our clergy has a great influence
on our nurturing of vocations, which is so greatly needed in the coming years.
• Establish manageable governance expectations for clergy and laity in all
legislation that is passed by the General Synod. The church has done a lot of
catching up on safeguarding at all levels, and more is needed to keep up with
national safeguarding requirements and to support survivors of abuse, but we
need to ensure that all proposals are workable and not overly burdensome for
those in ministry so that we can effectively make the church a safe place for all.
ABOUT ME
I have just turned 30 and I am Priest-in-Charge of three churches in Scarborough,
ministering in the midst of a challenging seasonal economy and high deprivation levels,
with a Grade I listed building to maintain. Previously I served my curacy in the Weighton
Wold Benefice (2021-25), a five-church rural benefice in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
When I trained for ordination at Cranmer Hall, Durham, I was taken out of my
Anglo-Catholic comfort zone and placed in the midst of substantive engagement
with people from other traditions and approaches within the CofE. This
contextualised my understanding of my place as an Anglo-Catholic within the wider
CofE whilst remaining open to challenging my own assumptions, contributing to
debates with people from different theological perspectives, and always looking to
what we can agree on despite our differences. This set me up well for ministry and
has informed my commitment to contributing thoughtfully to debates across
differing viewpoints and traditions within the church; where it is essential to retain
an open mind and reflect prayerfully together.
In other words, as the Church we need to honour integrity, debate with respectful
honesty, and still be able to work together at the end of the day. This is essential
in faithfully committing ourselves to live out our calling as the Church to be made
one in Christ; recognising both what we have in common amongst our differences,
and our commitment to that one shared mission of God’s church.
Thank you for taking the time to read this election address. I would be grateful for
your support with your first, or high preference, vote. If elected, I want to assure you
that I would seek to represent all of the Clergy of the Diocese of York as faithfully as
I can. There are many other issues for the General Synod to consider than those
above; if you would like to get in touch, my email address is [email protected].
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