Pressing issues for the Church of England

Simon from the Thinking Anglicans has put together a list of questions due to be asked at the General Synod of the Church of England next week. I don’t know how he gets hold of this stuff – he must have a hotline to someone very important like the Archbishop of Canterbury or Ruth Gledhill.

My attention was drawn to two questions in particular:

Mr Paul Boyd-Lee (Salisbury) to ask the Secretary General:
Q21. Is the Secretary General aware of any body within the Church of England’s structures that is monitoring for a town in England which might decide to hold a Festival of Decadence, such as was planned for New Orleans recently, and if so have they plans to resist it?

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of holding a Festival of Decadence I was interested to hear there might be a forgotten office somewhere in Church House whose job it is to look out for such a thing. I’m not sure how they’d go about it. Phone tapping would have to be part of it as would reading a lot of borough council minutes, the Evening Gazette, the Evening Echo and the Essex Chronicle.

The Revd Peter Spiers (Liverpool) to ask the Clerk to the Synod:
Q29. In full expectation of England’s participation in the World Cup final (Sunday 9 July at 7.00pm), what steps will the Clerk to the Synod be taking to negotiate with York University authorities adequate viewing facilities for General Synod members?

Absolutely. I also think there should be a special TV room at every General Synod in case any are avid followers of ‘Neighbours’ (or ‘Grand Designs’).