The Church of England's decision-making body, General Synod, is meeting at present (July 2008).  If the press have noticed this at all, they have commented on the emerging split over the Archbishop of Canterbury's stance on gay bishops in the Anglican Communion and on the consecration of women bishops in the Church of England.

Even the most detailed reports in the general press (such as the Independenton Saturday 5th July) have overlooked the other crucially important issues on the general Synod agenda.  These include the expected ratification of a Measure (church law) to change fundamentally the employment rights of Church of England clergy.  I commented in an earlier blog on the outline of these proposals, contained in the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Draft Measure.  Essentially, these include national terms of service for clergy, gradual changes to clergy housing status, the introduction of guidelines for clergy appointment and the creation of Human Resources departments indioceses to facilitate these changes.  I will provide further details and analysis if/when the Measure is passed.

Ian Jones, Barrister, whose specialist areas include Ecclesiastical Law and Employment Law.  Ian Jones is also a member of Leicester Diocesan Synod.