Diocese of Chichester

The General Synod considers and approves legislation affecting the whole of the Church of England, formulates new forms of worship, debates matters of national and international importance, and approves the annual budget for the work of the Church at national level.

Diocesan representatives are elected to the Houses of Clergy and Laity and vote on the issues presented at Synod.

2024 GENERAL SYNOD BY-ELECTION FOR ONE LAY PLACE

A vacancy for one lay member on General Synod has arisen.

Nominations open: 27 June 2024

Nominations close: 25 July 2024

Deadline for candidates to submit an election address (optional): 1 August 2024

Voting period: 8 August – 29 August 2024

Encouraging LAY candidates to stand for General Synod By-election

It is important that our Diocese is appropriately represented in General Synod by a full complement of members, of all ages and backgrounds, who represent the rich diversity of our communities and church traditions. Please do seriously consider approaching a lay person you think would have the right kind of gifts and asking them to offer themselves for election or if you are a lay person, please consider standing yourself. Please think widely about who to approach and bear in mind that, unlike electors, candidates to be nominated to stand for election need not be members of a deanery synod but do need to be on an electoral roll of a parish in the diocese or similar. For further information, including short promotional videos please see this link: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/general-synod/elections-synod . A flyer you may like to print and display is in the Related Resources section of this page (below) which includes the full list of qualification requirements for candidates and electors.

The importance of General Synod

The General Synod debates issues of religious and public importance, considers and approves both new forms of worship and national legislation that affects all parts of the Church of England, and approves the budget for the work of the Church of England at national level. Issues to be decided during 2021-2026 include: the vision and strategy of the Church of England, the recovery from Covid, potential new governance structures for the church, sustaining the vitality of parish life, rural issues, safeguarding (in particular arrangements for independence), violence to women, anti-racism, living in love and faith, the Archbishop’s Housing Commission, children and families, the profile of women in the church and much more.

Who can nominate and vote? The electors are Lay Deanery Synod members(except co-opted members) in post at 6am on 27 July 2024.

Who can stand for election as a candidate? (NB they do not have to be on Deanery Synod)

1. A candidate must be a LAY person who:

(a) has received Communion according to the use of the Church of England, or a Church in communion with it, at least 3 times in the 12 months before 27 June 2024; AND

(b) is confirmed (or ready and desirous of being confirmed) or comes within paragraph 1(b) of Canon B 15A (i.e. is a communicant member of a Church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity); AND

(c) is aged at least 18 on 27 June 2024; AND

(d) satisfies ONE of the following conditions:

(i) is on the church electoral roll of a parish in the diocese [or, in the case of a cathedral in the diocese, if not a parish church, on the community roll of the cathedral] at 6am on 27 June 2024; OR

(ii) has, at any time between 27 May to 27 July 2024, been declared by the leader of a mission initiative in the diocese to be part of the worshipping community involved in the initiative.

2. Unlike electors, candidates need not be members of a deanery synod.

3. Candidates must normally be qualified as such at 6.00 a.m. on 27 June 2024.

4. A candidate must not be the holder of a paid office or employment to which one of the following central bodies may make or confirm an appointment: the General Synod, the Church Commissioners*, the Convocations, the Church of England Pensions Board, the Corporation of Church House, the Archbishops’ Council. *(A Church Commissioner in receipt of a salary or other emolument is not so disqualified.)

5. A candidate may not stand for more than one diocese simultaneously

Nominations

As required, the General Synodelection is being conducted online, facilitated by Civica Election Services (CES). Civica will email invitations to nominate on 27 June to electors (electors are lay deanery synod members (except co-opted members) in post at 6am on 27 June 2024). Electors are entitled to propose or second candidates and to vote. It will only be possible for electors to nominate themselves online. If you are not an electorbut you would like to stand please contact anne-marie.mizler@chichester.anglican.org who will give you an access code so that you can nominate yourself online. Each candidate will need to have the agreement of a proposer and a seconder. Proposers and seconders must be lay electors and their details will need to be entered on the online nomination form. NB Paper nomination forms will be posted to those electors without an email address.

Provision / Publication of Electors’ and Candidates’ Personal Details

Please note that the Presiding Officer of the General Synod by-election is required to provide the electors’ (Lay Deanery Synod members’ as at 6am on 27 June 2024 except co-opted members) names, addresses and email addresses to candidates standing for the General Synod election if they request them. When thinking about standing for election, please note that the election rules require that: candidates’ names, addresses and years of birth appear on the voting form; election addresses appear on the diocesan website and election portal; and the successfully elected candidate’s name, address, email address and year of birth appears on the diocesan website and displayed in the diocesan office.

Please see the Related Resources below for information about General Synod meeting information, Expenses that can be claimed and guidance on Election Addresses.

Related Resources