What is “Deanery Synod”?
The word “synod” comes from a Greek word meaning “assembly” or “meeting”. The churches in the Marden Vale Team Ministry are in Salisbury Diocese. A Diocese is the area under the supervision of a bishop. Salisbury Diocese is in turn divided into 19 Deaneries, or groups of parishes. The churches in the Marden Vale Team are in Calne Deanery. Every Deanery is required to have a Synod. This is chaired by the Rural Dean and an elected Lay Chair.
The Deanery Synod consists of all clergy licensed to a benefice/parish within the Deanery, plus elected lay members.
What does a Deanery Synod do?
The Deanery Synod makes decisions at a deanery level. It acts as an intermediary between the parochial church councils (PCCs) of each parish and the synod of the diocese as a whole. Its priorities include Deanery Strategic Planning, Mission Action Planning and the allocation of the ‘share’ from the deanery to the parishes.
Deaneries also have power to bring proposals and motions to Diocesan Synod for debate.
Deanery Synod lay members also elect the deanery’s lay representatives to the Diocesan Synod and the Diocese’s members of the House of Laity in the General Synod of the Church of England.
How are Deanery Synod lay members elected?
Each parish is allocated a number of places on the Deanery Synod based on the size of their electoral roll. Christ Church, Derry Hill and St. Martin’s, Bremhill each have two, while St. John the Baptist, Foxham has one. Deanery Synod members are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) to serve a three-year term.
What do Deanery Synod lay members do?
Deanery Synod members are invited to attend four Deanery Synod meetings per year. These are held at various locations in the Deanery. The agenda and papers about matters to be discussed are circulated to members in advance. Some decisions are put to the vote.
Deanery Synod members are also automatically members of their parish’s PCC and so attend those meetings as well.
Representation
This is a two-way process, where loyalties cannot be one-sided. Synod is not there to tell parishes what to do, and synod representatives are not elected to “fight the corner” or “stand the ground” for their parishes. Their task is to be points of contact between deanery and parish, but they are elected to synod and also serve on PCC, not the other way around.
That means:
- They are responsible for communicating the activities of the deanery to the parish, and encouraging the parish to be engaged and involved.
- They represent the parish on the deanery synod. It involves joining in debate and discussion. It can’t be done effectively without both informing the parish and getting feedback.
Participation
Through debate, discussion and committees, Synod members should:
- take part in discerning deanery vision, including the right level at which work can most effectively be undertaken (deanery, locality, parish etc)
- help develop forward looking deanery projects to support the parishes in their local mission and ministry
- support collaboration both between parishes and ecumenically
- keep themselves informed of internal and external issues affecting mission and ministry – at local, diocesan, national and international levels
- work to grow a culture of generosity and good stewardship
- encourage others in their vocation and ministry