The Church of England is approaching another crunch point.
I’m sure we’ve all seen the headlines and reports from Save the Parish highlighting the decline in vocational parish ministry. The figures paint a sobering picture of the challenges facing the Church of England and raise serious questions about what the national church will look like in five, ten or twenty years’ time.
It is no coincidence that these reports have landed as we approach the elections to the General Synod later this month. Those elected will have a seat at the table for the next five years – and the decisions they make will have consequences far beyond the Synod chamber.
These elections matter. And not only because of the future of parish ministry.
Over the next five years, the new Synod will face major decisions on whatever succeeds Living in Love and Faith (LLF) and the introduction of Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF), the church’s finances, safeguarding and leadership. These are not abstract policy questions. They go to the heart of what kind of Church of England we want to be – and what kind of church we want to hand on to the next generation.
CEEC (whose members include New Wine, ReNew and others) is working as part of the Alliance with traditional Catholics and HTB – to support candidates who are committed to upholding and defending our biblical foundations, as expressed in the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England.
We are not the only ones who recognise the importance of these elections. Other groups are also seeking to increase their influence within Synod. Together for the Church of England is actively campaigning for a more ‘inclusive’ Church, including support for same-sex marriage. We believe the Gospel is gloriously inclusive, that we have all sinned, that all are invited to respond to God’s invitation through his Son, and that everyone needs to work out how to live in repentance and faith.
There is a lot at stake. And, yes, we should work hard.
We have encouraged people to stand. We should make sure voters know who the candidates are and what they stand for. We should encourage as many orthodox voters as possible to cast their votes.
But there is one thing we must not forget in all the campaigning, emails, conversations and electioneering: this is God’s church, not ours.
We can organise, campaign and do everything humanly possible – and we should. But we cannot engineer the outcome in our own strength. Our confidence cannot rest in clever strategy, persuasive candidates or even a strong election result.
Our confidence rests in the God who is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
Prayer, then, is not an optional extra to the election campaign. It is foundational.
So please pray – individually and in your churches – as we head into the elections. Pray for the candidates. Pray for authenticity, integrity, wisdom and courage. Pray that candidates will be able to speak the truth with grace and in love. And please pray that as many orthodox voters as possible will use their vote.
And if you are reading this as a member of a non-Church of England church, we know this might feel irrelevant to you personally, but please partner with us and do be praying for the national church at this time.
The stakes are high. So let’s pray, trusting the One who is able to do far more than we can ask or imagine, that He will be glorified in His church.
By Jane Patterson, secretary of the Evangelical Group on General Synod (EGGS), member of CEEC, and also chair of the Alliance General Synod elections working group.
This article was published in the October 2026 edition of Evangelicals Now and can be viewed here – https://www.e-n.org.uk/print-edition/
