The Archbishops had decided that before the Synod was Prorogued we should have an opportunity to debate ‘The State of the Nation’. Synod members often complain that we can never have a timely debate, that the agenda is set so far in advance that there is no space to respond to the events that are happening as we are meeting. There were no complaints on this occasion!
We weave the threads
For those unfamiliar with the layout of Westminster, the Abbey alongside which Dean’s Yard is located in which stands Church House, is on the opposite side of the road to the Palace of Westminster where the Houses of Parliament are. On the other side of the road in Parliament Square is the Supreme Court. Downing Street is just a short walk away and along Birdcage Walk and through St James’ Park is Buckingham Palace. The Synod meets at the heart of national life and so it was the perfect location to have this debate.
What was so interesting though was that this debate on the nation was a weaving together of the strands of the whole of this Group of Sessions. Forget the legislative business that we had to plough through; the rest of the Synod was about some of the elements that would make up any debate about the state that we find ourselves in as a nation. We talked about the environment; we talked about racism and how it affects travellers, gypsies and the Roma people. We talked about children and young people. We talked about life on our hard pressed and maginalised estates. We talked about the pernicious effect of advertising and gambling. All these threads could have been left hanging, like at the back of a badly finished piece of tapestry. But they weren’t.
This really measured and thoughtful and intelligent debate brought all of these strands together because they are all symptomatic of the challenges that our nation faces. One speaker talked of the demons of liberal democracy and the dark side of something which in many ways has delivered so much. The Bishop of Bristol spoke passionately and movingly about Swindon, part of her diocese, and the effect of the proposed closure of the Honda factory on so many ordinary people. Others spoke about the need for hospitality. Someone talked of creating a ‘counter-narrative of hope’ which could be spoken into our communities. The Bishop of Coventry spoke movingly of the effect our decision to Brexit will have on the ordinary people of Europe with whom we have unbreakable bonds.
But it was the Bishop of Chelmsford who really captured the mood, speaking of the Beatitudes in St Matthew’s Gospel and homing in on one in particular
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit.’ (Matthew 5.3)
He said that what Jesus was pointing to here were those who realised that they didn’t have all the answers, those who weren’t self reliant, those who knew their need of God and their neighbour and he called on us to have a new humility, as a church and as a nation, and to see beyond our opinion of our own riches. It was a powerful point and I fear I haven’t done him justice in reporting it. But this is a debate to read when the Report of Synod is published.
The call was of course to pray, every day, all the time for our elected representatives, for the Government and Parliament and to commit ourselves to doing this. But the whole Synod was a real encouragement to re-engage with those communities from which we have become seperated, it was a call back to ‘our first love’ to the mission of God, in the world, for the world, in this nation for this nation.
The threads were joined, tied off and neatened. Then like the artist we turn the work around at look at the ‘good side’, the image that has been created. When we join these threads we see the face of Christ and we see the kingdom of God. The Archbishop of Canterbury began the Synod reminding us that ‘We can’t talk about Jesus without looking like Jesus’. The tapestry reveals the face and we have been sent out to speak ‘the language of love more fluently’. The work begins, revealing Jesus and kingdom values to the nation and to the communities in which the church is set, as the pearl in the field.
This was the Brexit Prayer that I wrote for all the cathedrals to use. Please continue to pray it with us.
God of reconciling hope,
as you guided your people in the past
guide us through the turmoil of the present time
and bring us to that place of flourishing
where our unity can be restored,
the common good served
and all shall be made well.
In the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
Andrew Nunn's reflections from General Synod 
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