General Synod

The General Synod is the national assembly of the Church of England. Elected representatives from all dioceses gather to debate and decide the future direction of our Church. Meetings of the General Synod are referred to as “A Group of Sessions”.

Although General Synod was set up in 1970 to give the laity more say in the decisions of the Church, the roots of synodical governance actually date back to the medieval period.

Quinquennium 2010-2015

There are a number of issues facing our Church in the next five years. There will be major decisions on the priority of mission, church buildings, the Anglican Communion Covenant and Women in the Episcopate to name but a few.

Elected Representatives

Five Clergy (known as Proctors in Convocation) from across the Diocese:

• Canon Jane Charman: jane.charman@salisbury.anglican.org 
• Canon Richard Franklin: richardfranklin@iname.com 
• The Ven Alan Jeans: adsarum@salisbury.anglican.org 
• Canon Nigel LLoyd: nigel.lloyd@dsl.pipes.com 
• The Revd Christopher Strain: cmstrain@tiscali.co.uk 

Three Laity from the Ramsbury Area:

• Mr Christopher Fielden: winesource@btconnect.com 
• Mr Robert Key: srobertkey@hotmail.com 
• Mrs Debrah McIsaac: debbie@dball.com 

Three Laity from the Sherborne Area:

• Mr Paul Boyd-Lee: paulbl@btinternet.com 
• Dr Ian Bromilow: igbromilow@gmail.com 
• Mrs Christine Corteen: c.corteen@poole.gov.uk 

What do members of General Synod do?

• Attend debates during Synod meetings which are held twice a year, each lasting 4 or 5 days
• Worship together
• Vote, because decisions at Synod are always taken by voting. Members vote according to individual conscience and, we hope, according to what they believe God is saying at this time
• Speak, although not everyone who wants to speak can be called. It’s the majority who listen carefully to the debate and then vote who actually take the decisions
• Keep in touch with their electorate, because the wider church has the right to know what goes on at General Synod. Members should be closely aware of the issues facing their particular constituency

General Synod Online

For more about General Synod, its duties, responsibilities and powers, or to download background papers, audio files of debates and updates from previous sessions, click here to visit the official Church of England website, here for past groups of sessions and here for the latest papers.

BBC Parliament's digital TV channel broadcasts debates from General Synod. To view this coverage on the web, and to see previous broadcasts from Synod, click here.