A Message from the Prolocutor and Deputy Prolocutor

As Prolocutor and Deputy Prolocutor we address this Synod.

On behalf of the orders of laity and clergy, we express our appreciation to the order of bishops for their message to us.

We have heard and felt and acknowledge the pain, hurt and anguish of many people in this General Synod and beyond, particularly in the LGBTQ2S+ community, their families and friends.

We celebrate the strong support of the affirmations that we adopted at this Synod, affirmations which commit this Church to inclusivity and mutual respect. We recall that the affirmations are entitled:

Indigenous Spiritual Self-determination; Diverse Understandings of the Existing Canon; Diverse Understandings and Teachings; Our Commitment to Presume Good Faith; Our Commitment to Stand Together.

We also strongly endorse the proposed actions of this Synod calling for work, in the next triennium, on our governance structures, size and composition of Synod, and planning for the future. We acknowledge that it is not only ‘what’ we do at Synod but, equally important, ‘how’ we do our work, and we confess and lament that some of the ways in which we deliberated in this session of Synod caused alienation and hurt. We look forward, therefore, to reviewing these matters before our 43rd General Synod.

We pray for God’s grace and the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit as we move forward, as we work toward living fully into these commitments.