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Scottish Episcopal Church gathers for General Synod

The annual General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church takes place from 7 to 9 June in Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh. Church members from Episcopal Churches across Scotland attend the three day meeting at which a wide range of matters affecting the day to day running of the Church and the Church's role in wider issues are debated.

This year's agenda focuses on the intention of the Scottish Episcopal Church to become a more inclusive church, and highlights opportunities for deeper involvement in the Church's life through shared decision making and a clearer understanding of what membership of the Church might mean. The Church's commitment to working with other denominations and faith communities will be highlighted in a conversation/interview between a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim.

As a member of the world-wide Anglican Communion, the Scottish Episcopal Church is invited to respond to the draft text of the Anglican Communion Covenant (a means of future cohesion for the Communion), commended by the Primates of the Communion. General Synod members will be asked to invite the Church's Faith & Order Board to finalise a response to this.

General Synod will be asked to approve the inclusion in the Church's Canons (laws of the Church) a policy statement and code of good practice for the protection of vulnerable adults - this will be added to the existing stringent policy and code of practice for the protection of children in the church.

Some of the wider social issues being discussed this year include:

- urging congregations, through their overseas companion links, to support the Millennium Development Goals highlighted at the recent 'Towards Effective Anglican Mission' conference organised by the Anglican Communion;

- suppport for a moratorium on Terminator Technologies;

- introduction of an annual Gift Day throughout the Church to support the work of the Church's Community Fund;

- concern at the proposal for a line of electricity pylons from Beauly to Denny;

- concern about the proliferation of wind farms throughout the countryside of Scotland.

A choral Eucharist at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral at 10am on Thursday 7 June marks the official start of General Synod. During this, the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, will this year commission Mrs Sheila Redwood as the new Mothers' Union President for Scotland.

In preparing for General Synod, the Primus says: "As we continue to become more inclusive and raise awareness of the whole intention to be a Church that is open to all, we want to widen our understanding of how the Church is accessible to those in need and look at ways of growing our partnerships with other churches and those of other faiths. These fundamentals are the basis for all our discussions at General Synod and the work we engage in throughout the year."

The General Synod 2007 Agenda and Programme is available for download in both PDF and Microsoft Word formats:

- General Synod 2007 - Agenda (PDF)

- General Synod 2007 - Agenda (Word)

Full story at Scottish Episcopal Church.