Saturday’s meeting of Diocesan Synod was well-attended with a wide-ranging agenda and lively discussion. The main focus of the meeting was a session led by the Diocese’s Living in Love and Faith Reference Group. Members of the Group shared their very positive experiences of doing the LLF course together and enabled synod members to experience one of the sessions of the course for themselves.
There was a presentation on how the Diocese’s Transformation Programme is being taken forward in Salford deanery, by the Area Dean, The Revd Colin Pearson, and the Lay Chair, Canon Richard Lewis. The Revd Vinnie Whitworth updated Synod on his experiences as a new member of General Synod and highlighted some of the current issues on the national agenda following the General Synod meeting in February.
There was an update on the Diocese’s financial performance in 2021. There is an overall deficit for the year of £762k. This is due mainly to the reduction in Parish Share which has fallen by over £1.25m since 2018 (18%). Some of this shortfall has been offset by additional funding from the Church Commissioners, recognising the financial impact of the pandemic. Canon Phillip Blinkhorn fed back on the recent Parish Share survey, with responses from 175 parishes. The findings suggest support for the existing system, rather than fundamental change. He also provided an update on the Diocese’s investment strategy, along with our investment performance over the last 10 years which has generally been positive.