General Synod
November Group of Sessions 2000
How I Voted

That this Synod invite the Archbishops’ Council to carry forward its work during the forthcoming quinquennium along the lines indicated in the report.

At the end insert the words “and request it to add as a fifth theme the quest for visible unity”.

That this Synod:
(a) re-affirm the Church’s continuing commitment and responsibility to ministry alongside the poor and marginalised wherever they may be and especially in urban priority areas;
(b) welcome initiatives by dioceses to develop a locally-based and coherent strategy for evangelism and justice in urban priority areas;
(c) thank God for the achievement of the Church Urban Fund in partnership with dioceses in unleashing new hope in urban priority areas;
(d) endorse the recommendations in paragraphs 13 - 17 of GS 1400 and invite the Trustees of the Church Urban Fund and the Archbishops’ Council to pursue them, in consultation with dioceses; and
(e) request a report on progress from the Archbishops’ Council by the summer of 2002.

That this Synod request the Archbishops’ Council, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to examine the designation “non-stipendiary ministry and ministers” with a view to ending the designation altogether except for administrative purposes.

That this Synod request the House of Bishops to continue to monitor the implementation in dioceses of its 1997 Guidelines on Communion before Confirmation and to report back to the Synod by 2005, with a recommendation as to whether any changes in Canon Law are required as a result of developing practice and understanding in the Church.

That this Synod encourage the Archbishops’ Council to pursue the second the second stage of the action plan set out in GS Misc 625 [Called to Lead: A Challenge to Include Minority Ethnic People] and to report back to the Synod on progress.

That this Synod, noting with deep sympathy the suffering of the Iraqi people:
(a) hold that the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Iraq is a consequence of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the continued failure by the Government of Iraq to comply with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions;
(b) recognise that after ten years sanctions have failed to achieve their purpose and that continuing with the present sanctions policy is unlikely to yield further political dividend without creating additional human suffering:
(c) call on HMG to work to ensure that the price of securing peace and stability in the region is paid by the leadership of Iraq rather than the most vulnerable Iraqi people;
(d) encourage the BSR to work with Christian Aid, Coventry Cathedral’s Centre for Reconciliation and other bodies working in this area, in raising awareness of the humanitarian situation in Iraq and the underlying causes of conflict in the Middle East;
(e) encourage the Board for Social Responsibility to report back to the General Synod after the CTBI delegation has visited the Middle East next year.

Leave out paragraph (a) and insert as a new paragraph (a)
“(a) hold that, whilst the origin of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Iraq is a consequence of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, it has been perpetuated in part by the UN's lack of will to engage with the iraqi leadership and the failure of the UN to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people are being met;”.