I am a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, which is the legislative body of that denomination in which I work. I am one of three clergy elected from the Diocese in Europe, and along with three laity also elected, plus our Diocesan Bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Robert Innes, we are the seven person team from the nearly three-hundred congregations across Europe, Asian Turkey, and western North Africa. We meet in General Synod, usually twice a year, with a meeting in February in Church House, a purpose built meeting space and office building next to Westminster Abbey, and another in the University of York in July. This year we had a third meeting in Westminster in order to deal with the Redress Scheme and with the Living in Love and Faith proposals.

There are three hundred of us at General Synod, and it can be hard to get recognised by the chair to speak to a motion. Somehow I got recognised not just once, but twice. Here are the YouTube videos of the speeches I gave.

The first is from Tuesday morning, 14 November 2023.  In it I argue for the proposed Redress Scheme for survivors of sexual abuse by people in the church. Click on this link, and it should open a new window in which you can run the video.

In this second speech on Wednesday afternoon, 15 November 2023, I talk about how we might trust the Bishops more and affirm them in their work on Living in Love and Faith.  Again, click on this link to watch the video.