General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada

Composition and responsibilities

Except in special instances when it may be called into session by the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada or the Council of General Synod, the General Synod meets triennially at locations across Canada.

The General Synod is composed of three Orders: Bishops, Clergy, and Laity. All bishops and archbishops of the ACC are members of General Synod; clergy and lay delegates are elected from each of the church's thirty dioceses, as well as the Canadian Forces and the religious orders. Unlike the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Orders are not divided into Houses which meet separately according to different rules of order. Nonetheless, voting may be done by Orders with respect to certain issues, or on demand according to the rules of order, under which conditions a given Resolution would need to be approved in all three.

The General Synod is responsible for articulating the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Anglican Church of Canada. During its regular meetings, which generally span a week to nine days, members exchange information, set policy for the church, pass resolutions, and enact and amend canon law. Presently, there are twenty-two numbered canons, dealing with issues as prosaic as the name of the church, to ones touching on doctrine, such as matrimony, to judicial disciplinary proceedings.

Previous Sessions of General Synod

Officers of General Synod and the Council of General Synod

General Synod elects three of the nine officers who maintain certain executive responsibilities at and between Synods. Of those, one - the Primate - holds office until he or she resigns, is removed, retires, or dies. The other officers, elected at each General Synod, are the Prolocutor and the Deputy Prolocutor.

The Prolocutor acts as the chief deputy to the Primate, and the second executive officer of General Synod. As such, he or she chairs sessions of General Synod and meetings of the Council of General Synod in the absence of the Primate. The current Prolocutor is Ian Alexander; the Deputy Prolocutor is Tanya Phibbs.

Council of General Synod

Between sessions of General Synod, the Council of General Synod (CoGS) administers the affairs of the ACC. CoGS is composed of the Primate, the Prolocutor, the Deputy Prolocutor, the Chancellor, and representatives from the three Orders from each of the four ecclesiastical provinces, chosen by the respective delegates at General Synod, the numbers of which vary according to a complicated electoral formula. CoGS appoints four of the nine officers of General Synod:

• The General Secretary
• The Treasurer
• The Chancellor
• The Vice-Chancellor, if appointed It also elects two Officers-at-large (one Clergy, one Laity).

Committees of General Synod

General Synod has six standing committees, consisting of members both elected at General Synod and appointed by the Primate:

• Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee: Responsible for liturgical issues;
• Partners in Mission Committee: Responsible for relationships with Anglican and ecumenical churches and organisations overseas;
• Eco-Justice Committee: Responsible for social and environmental issues;
• Pension Committee: Responsible for clergy and staff pension administration;
• Financial Management and Development Committee: Responsible for the ACC's financial affairs;
• Communications and Information Resources Committee: Responsible for the communications and publications of the ACC, including the Anglican Journal newspaper.

Important acts of recent General Synods

• 1995: General Synod approves the publication of a new hymnal, the first since 1971. Published in 1998, under the title Common Praise.
• 2001: General Synod approves full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, under the provisions of the Waterloo Declaration.
• 2004: Andrew Hutchison is elected twelfth Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Synod votes to affirm "the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships."
• 2007: Fred Hiltz was elected the thirteenth primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Synod approved the "St. Michael Report", accepting that the blessing of same-sex unions is not a matter of "core doctrine" but rejected a motion that would have authorized dioceses to bless same-sex unions. The motion was passed by the clergy and laity, but was narrowly defeated by the House of Bishops. General Synod, however, approved a motion calling for "pastoral care" of same-sex couples and called on the Primate's Theological Commission to recommend changes to the Marriage Canon to permit the marriage of all couples entitled under Canadian civil law (thus including gays and lesbians).
• 2016: A resolution for the first reading of the amendment to Canon XXI (On Marriage in the Church) was passed, after it was originally reported to have failed by one vote in the order of clergy. The amendment would have changed the wording of the canon to include same-sex relationships. The amendment was then put forward to be read a second time at General Synod in 2019, in accordance with the Declaration of Principles.
• 2019: A resolution for the second reading of the amendment to Canon XXI, was defeated narrowly when less than the required two-thirds voted in favour of the resolution in the Order of Bishops. Linda Nicholls was also elected fourteenth Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the first woman to be elected to that office.
• 2023: A resolution to amend Canon III (The Primate), was defeated twice. The resolution would have allowed the extension of a Primate's term past the mandatory retirement age of 70, if General Synod fell within a year of their reaching that age.
• 2025: Shane Parker was elected as the fifteenth Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

References

References

1. Elliott, P. G. (2024). (publication). ''The Evolution of General Synod''. The Primate’s Commission: Re-imagining the Church. [https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/Evolution-of-General-Synod.pdf. https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/Evolution-of-General-Synod.pdf.]
2. "Declaration of Principles".
3. "List of all General Synod meetings".
4. "Council of General Synod".
5. "Synod approves St. Michael report".
6. "Blessing of same-sex unions defeated".
7. "General Synod commits to pastoral care of same-sex couples".
8. Forget, André. (2016-07-13). "Voting error reveals Anglican same-sex marriage motion passed after all".
9. Davies, Madeleine. (July 15, 2016). "Canada gay-marriage motion carried in second count". Church Times.
10. Puddister, Matthew. (2019-07-13). "Marriage canon amendment fails to pass at General Synod".
11. "Election of a new Primate - Results".
12. Frankling, Matthew Puddister and Sean. (2023-08-31). "Synod votes no to extending primate's term".
13. Frankling, Sean. (2025-06-27). "Bishop of Ottawa Shane Parker elected primate".