General Synod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations.
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[edit] Church of England
In the Church of England, General Synod was instituted in 1970 and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.
The General Synod is unique in that it is the only body to which Parliament had delegated the power to pass Measures, which become part of English law. The Church Assembly, the predecessor of the General Synod, was in 1919 given the power to pass legislation on any matter to do with the Church of England; if Parliament accepts the Measures, then they become law – if MPs or members of the House of Lords are not happy with a Measure then they can vote to reject it, but not amend it. Once a measure has been agreed to by both Houses of Parliament, it is presented for the Royal Assent, and printed with the Acts of parliament for the year in question.
General Synod is elected every five years by a system of Single Transferable Vote and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
It is divided into the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. All diocesan bishops are members of the House of Bishops ex-officio; in addition, nine suffragan bishops are elected by all suffragan bishops. Membership of the House of Clergy is by election through the House of Clergy in each Diocesan Synod. Membership of the House of Laity is by election through the House of Laity in each Deanery Synod. There are 574 General Synod members in total.
There are two synodical sessions per year (4-5 days each), one in Church House, Westminster, the other at the University of York.
General Synod deals with three main areas:
- Central church business
- Relations with other churches
- Public issues
The General Synod elects some members to the Archbishops' Council
General Synods of other churches within the Anglican Communion
- Anglican Church of Australia
- Anglican Church of Canada
- Church of Ireland
- Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
- Scottish Episcopal Church
[edit] Episcopal Church of the United States
In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the equivalent is General Convention.
[edit] Other Churches
The United Church of Christ in the United States also calls their main governing body a General Synod. It meets every two years and consists of over 600 delegates from various congregations and conferences.
