The Council of Bishops of The Society has published 'A Catholic Life in the Church of England: A Statement of Policy and Pastoral Guidance'. For further details, please see the announcement on the Society's website.

Voting in the General Synod elections opens today in some dioceses and tomorrow in others, and will continue until Friday 9 October.

The fourth of the five Guiding Principles in the House of Bishops’ Declaration expresses the Church of England’s commitment to enabling Anglicans who are committed to the traditional catholic understanding of the threefold ministry to ‘flourish within its life and structures’. In co-operation with the Catholic Group in General Synod, Forward in Faith has responded to this invitation to flourish within the Church of England’s structures by encouraging catholic Anglicans in each diocese to identify candidates to stand in the elections.

Members of the Catholic Group will be committed to the catholic faith as the Church of England received it, and to proclaiming it afresh in this generation. They will uphold catholic order and the catholic doctrine of the sacraments. They will be committed to the visible unity of Christ’s Church, to listening to the voice of the wider Church throughout the world and across the ages, and to bringing that voice to bear in the General Synod’s debates. Integral to our catholicity is the call to look with the eyes of Christ beyond the confines of the worshipping congregation, engaging in mission and pastoral outreach to the whole community of the parish, and being concerned with important issues affecting the nation and the world, particularly the poor and downtrodden.

The Catholic Group has a strong record of participating in the General Synod’s debates, and making important contributions to the Church of England’s national work, in all of these areas. Our aim is to secure the election of worthy successors in larger numbers, with a view to even stronger participation in the next five years.

During this voting period, please pray for all candidates standing for election to the General Synod and for all electors. A prayer leaflet is available – as a coloured leaflet and in a form suitable for printing at home – from this page.