A three-week campaign has been launched today by The Church of England in Lancashire (Blackburn Diocese) calling on people of all ages from parishes across the County to become members of one of its key decision-making bodies.

The Bishops of Blackburn and Lancaster, Rt Rev. Philip North and Rt Rev. Dr Jill Duff, are fronting the multi-channel push; including videos featuring the Bishops (released today) and 12 current members of Synod (to be released on our social media channels in the coming days) ... all encouraging as many as possible to consider standing.

The campaign will include external promotion via local, regional and national church media; information here on the Diocesan website; regular content every day on the Diocesan social media channels (#standforsynod) until the closing date for nominations (Thursday, May 23); all alongside articles in the Diocese’s regular and very popular ‘Parish Update’ ebulletin.

Churches are also being encouraged to promote the campaign locally on their own websites; social channels and other communications methods, such as parish magazines and noticeboards.

In his video, released today on YouTube, Bishop Philip says: “We are committed through our parishes, our schools and our chaplains to making a real difference as we proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ across this diverse and beautiful county. That vision requires good leadership at every level … in our parishes, but also across our Diocese.

“That's why I’m calling for people across the Diocese to think and pray about standing for Diocesan Synod which has a key leadership role across the whole of our common life.

“It meets two or three times a year, with rich and varied agendas and we need a wide range of people to serve: young adults as well as older people; people from estates parishes and rural parishes, along with other demographics.

“We need all sorts of backgrounds for a Synod that represents the diversity of Lancashire so I really hope you consider putting your name forward.”

The Diocesan Synod is the main decision-making body for The Church of England in Blackburn Diocese. Synod considers major strategic decisions, policy and governance changes and agrees the budget for the Diocese.

It is where debate occurs to set an agreed direction of travel for the work of the Diocese. The officers of the Diocesan Board of Finance; Archdeacons; Bishops; clergy and parishes are all accountable to Synod.

Held every three years, the elections are guided by the Church Representation Rules for Diocesan Synods.

Elections taking place this year are for members of the House of Clergy and House of Laity. A layperson can be elected from as young as 16 based on several criteria (all in the Rules) including being a communicant member of the Church of England and having their name on the parish electoral roll.

Meanwhile, for clergy elections, the Rules state a ‘clerk in Holy orders’ who is a member of a deanery synod is qualified for election by the house of clergy of that deanery synod to be a member of the diocesan synod.

Anyone prayerfully interested in standing for Diocesan Synod should speak to their parish priest in the first instance and then there is a process for nomination they will be pointed towards that is overseen by local presiding officers in each Deanery.

Full details about the elections including criteria; the process for nominations; timetable and more are on a special elections page on the Diocesan website here.

In her own video, also on YouTube, Bishop Jill adds: “We'd love you to consider if God is calling you to stand for Diocesan Synod which is a key leadership body in our Diocese. We want our Synod to represent all the different communities in Lancashire; all ages and stages.

“If you think your face might not fit, that might be exactly why God is calling you! Diocesan Synod is open to everybody, subject to the criteria that you'll find on the Diocesan website, and we’d love you to step out and join in.”

Captions for pictures above:

• Bishop Philip and Bishop Jill want as many as possible to stand for election to Diocesan Synod
• One of the social media banners for the new Diocesan Synod election campaign running until May 23

Ronnie Semley, May 2024