Rev Jessie Thornton-Black from Northland-Wilton Parish writes

From first-time representatives to stalwart members, Synod 2024 in Karori reminded and challenged us of the strength we have in being a movement of local faith communities. The theme of moving into the neighbourhood, picked up in both Bishops’ charges as well as in the sermon of Father Greg Boyle at General Synod Te Hīnota Whānui 2024, helped frame our time together. We were reminded in each of these times how much Jesus loves each person in our community, and that our call to be a Christ-centred presence in each neighbourhood is what allows us to be in the room to support each other and to have the strategic conversations.

A very special visit to the almost-open Whakamaru building on Sunday morning gave us a beautiful and practical example of what being neighbours with those we serve looks like to the Wellington City Mission: breaking down an “us” and “them” dichotomy and creating a space for people of all walks of life to be together.

Some of the highlights of Synod included the always popular Synod bingo, the many maiden speeches (celebrated with a bottle of wine!) and of course the chance to experience mission life in Karori through a number of missional bites. Wellington’s weather seemed determined to ensure that a good time was had: the sun shone both days, ensuring connections between old and new friends on the lawn over lunch could be had. For the kids of Synod representatives, a dedicated team made sure they were entertained and that Synod was a fun weekend for them too. Many of the parents were grateful their kids were deepening relationships with others across the Diocese, as well as a huge practical help!

Synod always includes a Eucharist service and we were blessed to have that time led by Archbishop Sione Ulu'ilakepa, a beautiful reminder that our Diocese is part of a three tikanga church.

In terms of actual business, Synod passed a number of important motions. An Amendment to Diocesan Riverslea Canon will allow this trust to have more modern and light-touch governance obligations. The 2025 budget, put forward after a report by the Finance Committee, was also passed with little problem. After significant work between the Diocese Board of Trustees and the St Mark’s Church School, Synod agreed to grant a ground lease to the school for the sites at Dufferin Street that used to make up the St Mark’s Church site. An emergency motion put forward by Roseneath representative Carole Hicks was passed that agreed the Diocese would take action against the Treaty Principles Bill. The Diocesan Priorities of climate, housing and refugees were amended to be the Diocesan Justice Priorities before passing, and finally we agreed to next year’s Synod to be in Whanganui next year, trialling a new Friday afternoon to Saturday night hours of sitting.

Synod is perhaps one of the more misunderstood Diocesan events. People might think of it as an overly technical, dry weekend of debating with plenty of legalise and speeches. We were greatly blessed by the capable guidance on procedural and technical matters by a number of our governance leaders, which meant everything was passed in the proper manner.  However, what is always amazing at Synod is to be in the room where every motion matters in some way to someone. People passionately spoke on the issues that they cared about, and were genuinely grateful to see decisions were agreed to, even where those were hard.

Beth McMillan, a first time representative from Shannon, noted how it reinforced that we are better because we are all in the room: “we are all just in our local contexts,” she said, but when someone else is so passionate about something you’re not so clued into, “it reminds you about the big thing we’re apart of as well”. Tamsin Woolf, a representative from Wellington South for the first time, was pleasantly surprised that instead of debate there was so much free discussion on strategic priorities, and that it encouraged the creative ideas of the room on some of our most tricky problems. Others who had been along to many Synods spoke of the vibrancy in the room and the amount of laughter, especially at an occasional procedural faux pas by a Bishop.

From my perspective, it seemed that we trusted that everyone who raised questions, motions and amendments did so because they cared about us as a whole making the best decisions. We can be grateful for the way our Synod representatives collectively heard what God is saying about our Diocese as a whole and for what we were individually inspired to do for the Kingdom in our unique contexts of our neighbourhood.