WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SYNOD IN THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
By Ven. Dr. Paul Dajur.
1. It is the highest governing and legislative meeting of the 3 Houses in the Diocese:
– The House of Bishop
– The House of Clergy
– The House of Laity
2. It discusses and takes decisions on doctrine where there is an issue, on administration and governance of the Diocese and parishes, discussing matters of the nation and the land which have effects on the church and the people.
3. Constitutionally, the quorum for synod include:
– The Diocesan Bishop representing the House of Bishop.
– The clergy of the Diocese representing the House of Clergy.
– Appointed, selected and nominated lay members representing the House of Laity.
4. The Diocesan Bishop is the only member in the Diocese representing the House of Bishop. All other invited Bishops present at the Synod including those invited to preach and lead Bible Study cannot be included in the roll call of the House of Bishop of that Synod. If the Diocese has Suffragan Bishops then they join with their Diocesan Bishop in the House of Bishop.
5. The Diocesan Bishop presents a special Address during Synod which is called Bishop’s Charge or Presidential Address since the Bishop is the President of Synod.
6. The Bishop’s Charge or Presidential Address normally has these essential contents
Synod Prayer
Bible Exposition on the Theme
Discourse and remarks on worthy local, national and global issues
Report of the progress made in the Diocese
Highlight of challenges within the Diocese and possible direction on how to handle them.
Projections into the future of the Diocese
Appeal to the Synod, all members, government and spirited individuals to support the Diocese in prayers and through generous financial support.
7. The synod has two secretaries whose duty is to record the proceedings and report the minutes to the Synod for adoption at the close of the Synod. They are:
1. Clerical Synod Secretary from the House of Clergy (some Dioceses have another clergy as an assistant to the main secretary)
2. Lay Synod Secretary from the House of Laity (some Dioceses have another laity as an assistant to the main secretary)
These same secretaries serve the Diocesan Board as secretaries throughout the synod year.
8. A Synod has 3 sessions which is 3 years. So the different sessions are presented for example thus –
The first session of the first synod
The second session of the first synod
The third session of the first synod
Then the next synod year begins s follows
The first session of the second synod
The second session of the second synod
The third session of the second synod
And this continues for the rest of the existence of the Diocese
You can get the correct age of a Diocese through the number of the synod and the session.
9. All the 3 Houses of the Synod have a responsibility to be active and participate well at Synod.
The Bishop being the episcopal leader of the Diocesan can veto some synod decisions in the interest of the Diocese, Province, Church of Nigeria or the Gospel.
The Anglican Church as we know is “episcopally led and synodically governed.”
10. No clergy of the Diocese is expected to be absent from the synod except by the permission of the Bishop or on grounds of ill health or travel approved by the Bishop.
Clergy who for good cause will not be present at the synod must take proper permission and approval received from the Diocesan Bishop.
11. There is a usual communique and resolution from the synod that speaks to the government, the members, and all and sundry.
Also, there can be a pastoral letter to the Church from the Diocesan Bishop to keep the whole Diocese abreast with essential ingredients and the decision of the synod that has to do with them.
12. Although Diocesan Bishops are at liberty to make preferment to deserving clergy at their discretion and time, some Diocesan Bishops find synod as a good ground to announce preferment of the clergy as Canons or Archdeacons.
13. Although synod comes once in a year, it’s the prerogative of the Diocesan Bishop to convene a One Day synod between the sessions to handle important decisions that in his wisdom has to be handled by the synod and not the Diocesan Board.
There are times the Church of Nigeria will call for decision on weighty matters that only a Diocesan synod feedback will be accepted thus the Bishop will have to call a One Day synod if the annual synod has hold already or is far away from the date of the submission of such report.
14. Archdeaconries are expected to collate reports from the parishes and churches to be presented to the synod.
They are expected to prayerfully work hard to raise good money to support the work of the Diocese through launching the Bishop’s Charge or Presidential Address and any other projects the Diocese chose to embark upon.
15. Election of leaders in the Diocese are done based on synod year – some of the offices elected at synod include:
Clerical Synod Secretary
Lay Synod Secretary
Diocesan Treasurer
Diocesan Advisory Committee (to advise the House of Bishops of the Church of Nigeria on the qualifications and qualities of the next Diocesan Bishop when a vacancy exists)
Provincial Advisory Committee (to join Provincial Advisory Committee on the election of a new Provincial Archbishop)
Primatial Advisory Committee (to join national Advisory Committee on the election of a new Primate)
Appointments into boards and ministry areas are the prerogative of the Diocesan Bishop.
16. The only person with the authority to call for synod is the Diocesan Bishop. He alone determines where it will hold, the date, the theme, invited preachers and Bible teachers, etc.
The secretaries of Synod are absolutely answerable to him in planning the synod programme and events.
17. The Chancellor and Registrar as well as other Legal Officers in the Diocese are appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Diocesan Bishop who has the prerogative to determine how long or how short they can serve with him.
They are advisers to the Bishop and not dictators or leaders of pressure group against the Bishop.
Their legal knowledge is to guide the Bishop and the Diocese from taking decisions and actions that will put the church in conflict with the laws of the land or nation.
18. There is an exclusive synod of Bishops called Episcopal Synod. In this exclusive synod the House of Clergy and the House of Laity are not invited.
It is at such synods that vacant sees and filled through election of priests as Bishops.
Another kind of synod is the General Synod which is the highest legislative meeting of the Church of Nigeria. Decisions in the General Synod are binding on all Dioceses because they were fully represented at the synod.
19. Synod is a word from Greek σύνοδος (synodus) meaning assembly or meeting.
20. There are aspects of the synod that are open to those who are not delegates that other members are encouraged to attend to be blessed and enriched. These aspects include:
Opening Service which is usually a Eucharist
The Presentation of Bishop’s Charge or Presidential Address
Thanksgiving Service which is usually the closing service and Eucharist.
The early morning devotions and Bible Studies.
Other aspects of the synod are exclusive to only the delegates from the 3 Houses.
The Venerable Dr. Paul Dajur is the General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion.
