General Synod elections 2024

From the Presiding Officer, Darren Oliver (Diocesan Registrar)

Casual Vacancies have arisen in both Houses of General Synod which have triggered the election process. Only those clergy and laity who remain qualified at 6.00am on Wednesday 28 February 2024 will be entitled to vote.

1. How to nominate or vote

The election process (both making nominations and casting votes) will be conducted largely online via an election portal. Those who have not provided an email address through their parish electoral roll or deanery synod roll may still submit a nomination or a vote on paper.

Information setting out how to submit a nomination will be sent to you by email / post (as relevant) on 18 March 2024. Please note that each nomination must also have a proposer and a seconder (see paragraphs 2.3 and 2.8 below).

Please note that no one may vote or stand as a candidate in more than one diocese/electoral area.

2. Who can be nominated for election?

Clergy candidates

2.1 A proctorial candidate must be an ordained priest or deacon who is one of the following:

1. a qualified elector (as described in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 below) in the diocese (excluding all assistant bishops);
2. a person who would be a qualified elector (see paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2) if he or she had been a member of a deanery synod in the diocese (i.e. a priest or deacon holding written permission from the bishop to officiate within the diocese);
3. a person qualified to vote in the Universities and TEIs constituency who:
   1. would be qualified as a diocesan elector (see paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2) but for the fact that he or she is qualified to vote in the UTEIs constituency;
   2. is beneficed in, or licensed to, any parish in the diocese or is licensed to serve as a vicar in a team ministry in any benefice in the diocese; and
   3. has chosen to stand in the diocesan election rather than in the election to the Universities and TEIs constituency (by informing the presiding officer).

2.2 A candidate must not be the holder of a paid office or employment to which one of the following central bodies may make or confirm an appointment:

• the General Synod
• the Church Commissioners*
• the Convocations
• the Church of England Pensions Board
• the Archbishops’ Council
• the Corporation of the Church House

*(A Church Commissioner in receipt of a salary or other emolument is not so disqualified.)

2.3 Proposers and seconders must be electors qualified (see paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2) as such at 6.00am on Wednesday 28 February 2024 (the date of the Citation from the Provincial Registrar responsible for Elections).

Lay candidates

2.4 A candidate must be a lay person who:

1. has received Communion according to the use of the Church of England, or a Church in communion with it, at least three times in the twelve months before Wednesday 28 February 2024 (the date of the Citation from the Provincial Registrar responsible for Elections); and
2. is either confirmed (or ready and desirous of being confirmed) or comes within paragraph 1(b) of Canon B 15A (i.e. is a communicant member of a Church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity); and
3. is aged at least 18 years old on Wednesday 28 February 2024; and
4. satisfies one of the following conditions:
   1. is on the church electoral roll of a parish in the diocese or on the cathedral’s community roll;
   2. is to be declared by the relevant dean to be a habitual worshipper at St George’s Chapel, Windsor or the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford; or
   3. is declared by the leader of a mission initiative in the diocese to be part of the worshipping community involved in the initiative.

2.5 Unlike electors, candidates need not be members of a deanery synod.

2.6 Candidates must normally be qualified as such at 6.00a.m. on Wednesday 28 February 2024 (the date of the Citation from the Provincial Registrar responsible for Elections). Exceptionally, the deans of St George’s Chapel, Windsor or the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford or the leader of a mission initiative may declare persons to be habitual worshippers at those places.

2.7 A candidate must not be the holder of a paid office or employment to which one of the following central bodies may make or confirm an appointment:

• the General Synod
• the Church Commissioners*
• the Convocations
• the Church of England Pensions Board
• the Archbishops’ Council the Corporation of the Church House

*(A Church Commissioner in receipt of a salary or other emolument is not so disqualified.)

2.8 Proposers and seconders must be diocesan electors (see paragraph 3.3 below) qualified as such at 6.00 a.m. on Wednesday 28 February 2024.

3. Who can vote in the election?

Clergy electors

3.1 A bishop, priest or deacon is a qualified elector (subject to the exceptions in paragraph 3.2 below) if in one of the following categories:

1. assistant bishops in the diocese (but not members of the house of bishops of the diocesan synod);
2. archdeacons of the diocese;
3. beneficed clergy of the diocese;
4. clergy holding office in a cathedral in the diocese;
5. clergy holding office at St George’s Windsor (but not the Dean);
6. clergy licensed under seal by the bishop of the diocese (including any clergy resident outside the diocese but holding licence of the bishop of that diocese);
7. clergy with permission to officiate who are members of a deanery synod of the diocese.

3.2 The following are not qualified electors:

1. bishops who are members of the house of bishops of the diocesan synod;
2. the dean of the cathedral;
3. the dean of Saint George’s Windsor;
4. all Forces chaplains;
5. the Chaplain-General of Prisons;
6. electors in the Universities and TEIs constituency; and
7. members of religious communities.

Lay electors

3.3 The diocesan electors are the members of the houses of laity of all the deanery synods in the diocese, other than co-opted members and the members of a religious community with representation in the General Synod.

4. When can nominations be made?

Invitations to nominate will be sent to the electorate on Monday 18 March 2024. Nominations must be made by 5pm on Monday 22 April 2024.

5. What is involved in the nomination process?

Nominated candidates will have three optional opportunities to engage with the electorate:

1. By submitting a written electoral address (by 5pm on Tuesday 30 April 2024)

There is no required format, but it will be limited to two A4 pages in length (ie on both sides of a single sheet) in a legible font. It can include a photograph of the candidate. The content is a matter for each candidate but material which is, on the advice of the presiding officer, defamatory or unlawful will not be permitted.

The electoral address will be posted on the online elections portal and on the diocesan website. Hard copies will be printed in black and white and posted to those who have not provided an email address.

2. By recording an introductory video (between Monday 22 to Monday 29 April 2024)

Candidates wishing to provide a video will attend Church House Oxford to record a brief video (lasting no more than 3 minutes) with the diocesan communications team. The candidate will be asked the following three questions:

• Can you tell us who you are, and where you worship in the diocese?
• What do you believe you can bring to the work of the General Synod?
• What do you think are the most important issues facing the Church of England over the remaining term of this General Synod?

The recordings will be identical in format and will be recorded against the same neutral background. They will be posted on the diocesan website on the day voting invitations are sent.

3. By providing written answers to selected questions posed by the electorate

The electorate will have the opportunity to submit written questions to candidates between Monday 18 March 2024 and 5pm on Tuesday 7 May 2024.

The presiding officer will collate these questions into groups so that three or four general questions will be selected.

These questions will then be sent to nominated candidates by 5pm on Thursday 9 May 2024. Candidates who wish to provide answers to some or all of the questions can then do so by 5pm on Tuesday 14 May 2024.

Any written responses will be posted against the candidate’s name on the diocesan website.

There will be no obligation for any candidate to provide or participate in all or any of these opportunities. If a candidate does not wish to do so, words similar to “no information provided” will simply be listed beside the candidate’s name.

6. When will voting take place?

Voting invitations will be issued (with instructions on how votes can be cast) on Friday 3 May 2024. Electors may wish to have the benefit of reading and watching the candidates’ addresses and responses during the election process before casting votes. Voting will close at 5pm on Friday 31 May 2024.

A full timetable for elections within the Diocese of Oxford is below.