Diocesan synod

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In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod', meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives of the clergy and laity of the diocese. In much of the Communion the body by which this representation is achieved is called the diocesan synod. (In the Episcopal Church in the US, the corresponding body is called a diocesan convention.)

Contents

The precise composition of a diocesan synod is subject to provincial and local canon and practice.

Church of England

In the Church of England diocesan synods exist under the terms of the Synodical Government Measure 1969. [1]

A diocesan synod consists of three Houses, as follows:

Clergy and lay elected representatives are elected for a three-year term of office. The first diocesan synods met in 1970, and elections have been held every three years since, most recently in 2018. Election is by the members of the deanery synods of the diocese, and the number of representatives of each deanery is in proportion to the total number of 'members' of the churches in that deanery, compared with the diocese as a whole. The House of Clergy and the House of Laity should have approximately the same number of members. The method of election may be by simple plurality (i.e., first past the post) or by single transferable vote, and each diocesan synod may choose between these two. [2]

In general the three Houses of the diocesan synod meet together, debate together and vote together, and a majority is assumed to be a majority of each of the three Houses. However, a vote by Houses can be requested, and in certain cases is required. In a vote by Houses, the consent of each of the three Houses is required in order for the assent of the Synod to be given. In addition, the diocesan bishop may declare that the House of Bishops shall only be deemed to have assented if the assenting majority includes the bishop. This means that the diocesan bishop may exercise a veto over the diocesan synod if they so wish.

Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

The governing bodies of Episcopal Units in the three-tikanga church are each referred to by names appropriate to their tikanga's language: the New Zealand and Polynesia dioceses by diocesan synods, Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa by te rūnanganui ("great assembly") and the other pīhopatanga by hui amorangi. These smaller pīhopatanga's hui amorangi ("governing bodies") are not exactly equivalent to diocesan synods in that they are not fully independent of te rūnanganui. [3]

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The General Synod of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui exercises the metropolitical authority of the Anglican Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. It is a tricameral synod which governs the Province and has the final authority in all matters affecting life, order and canonical discipline of the Church. Its chairperson is the Archbishop of Hong Kong.

The House of Clergy is the middle house in the tricameral Church of England General Synod legislature. It consists of representatives of the ordained clergy of the Church of England.

The House of Laity is the lower house in the tricameral General Synod of the Church of England legislature. They are responsible for representing the laity of the Church of England in the legislature. They are indirectly elected every 5 years by members on the Church of England's electoral roll via the representatives on the Diocesan Synods.

In the Church of England and other Anglican churches, a deanery synod is a synod convened by the Rural Dean and/or the Joint Lay Chair of the Deanery Synod, who is elected by the elected lay members. It consists of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery, plus elected lay members. The Synodical Government Measure 1969 makes it a statutory body. It acts as an intermediary between the parochial church councils of each parish in its deanery and the synod of the diocese as a whole. In England its lay members also elect the deanery's lay representatives to its diocese's synod and its diocese's members of the House of Laity in the General Synod of the Church of England, every five years by a system of Single Transferable Vote.

The Governing Body of the Church in Wales is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church in Wales, broadly speaking equivalent to the General Synod of the Church of England. The Governing Body usually meets twice each year to receive reports, discuss issues concerning the church and make decisions on matters brought before it.

The House of Bishops is the upper house of the tricameral Church of England General Synod legislature. It consists of all 42 Diocesan Bishops of the Church of England's Provinces of Canterbury and York as well as nine elected suffragan bishops. This is not to be confused with the Lords Spiritual, the most senior bishops in the Church of England sitting in the House of Lords ex officio.

References

  1. Synodical Government Measure 1969 on the UK Statute Law Database - retrieved 9 May 2008
  2. Church Representation Rules, as amended by General Synod, Church House Publishing, London
  3. anglican.org.nz