Enfield Deanery
London Diocesan Synod Report from Roger
Dean
The Fifth meeting of the present triennium of the
London Diocesan Synod was held on Saturday 6th December 2008 at
Kings College London. The synod
opened with an act of worship in the college Chapel led by the Dean of Kings
College, Revd Professor Richard Burridge, during which the Bishop of London
licensed the Rev’d Alison Tyler as Chaplaincy Training and Development officer,
(Prison Services College).
Following a formal welcome and introduction by the
Bishop of London, the business of the Synod began with a presentation entitled
“Inter Faith – a brief overview of the current landscape” introduced by
the Archdeacon of Northolt. In her
introduction, the Archdeacon explained that the initiatives that would be
covered in the presentation were based on the 4th and 5th
commitments of the London Challenge and she drew a distinction between ‘multi
faith’, where those involved worked side by side, and ‘inter faith’ which
involved face to face dialogue.
Revd Alan Green, Team Rector of St John on Bethnal
Green spoke about his work in multi faith forums in Tower Hamlets, one of
London’s most deprived boroughs where 34% of the population was Muslim. Revd Charles Sargent, Chaplain at
Brunel University described his role as part of a multi faith chaplaincy team
involving Anglican, Catholic, Muslim and Hindu chaplains and Revd Fergus Capie,
Vicar of St Anne’s , Brondesbury and Willesden Inter Faith Adviser spoke on a
number of issues from his wide experience of inter faith matters.
The term ‘Presence and Engagement’ refers to those
parishes (72% of those in London) where more than 10% of the population are of
other faiths. Rev’d Michael
Bolley, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Southall gave examples of how the five churches
in Southall worked closely together at being present and engaged in the
community and Ms Susanne Mitchell was introduced as the new coordinator for the
Greater London Presence and Engagement Network (PEN) and explained how PEN aims
to identify what is already available to help parishes in their mission and
ministry in multi faith settings.
Synod then considered a number of items of formal
business and received the responses to written questions from members before
turning its attention to the budget for 2009. John Butler, Director of Finance and Operations described
the unprecedented global economic situation which was likely to put extreme
pressure on the budget in a number of ways. The budget headlines included: Commitment to a balanced general fund budget, no reduction
in clergy numbers, Common Fund up 5% and a budgeted 4% increase in
stipends. However, because of the
very uncertain times, it was proposed that the decision on whether to pay the
stipend increase from the usual date of 1st April be deferred to
the New Year and delegated to the Bishop’s Council. The budget was approved by Synod nem. con.
Minor amendments to Diocesan Synod Standing Orders and
the scales of representation for the 2009 Diocesan Synod elections were
approved before the Synod concluded by receiving an update on the business that
had been carried out at the July 2008 session of the General Synod. This included reports from General
Synod members on debates which had been held on the environment, tourism,
clergy terms of service, the Anglican/Methodist covenant and women bishops.
Roger Dean, January 2009
THE CHURCHES OF ENFIELD DEANERY
The Clergy of the Enfield Deanery
Minutes of the Last Deanery Synod