The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church will meet two weeks today at St Paul’s & St George’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, from Thursday 5 June to Saturday 7 June.

The agenda and papers have now been sent to members and published here on the Scottish Episcopal Church website, detailing the business scheduled.

Proceedings will begin on the Thursday with the Opening Eucharist at St Paul’s & St George’s. The offering taken as part of the Synod Eucharist will be donated to Christian Aid’s Sudan Crisis Appeal and will be taken online here.

The first day’s business sessions of Synod will involve sessions on ethical investments, with Synod asked to consider the political position in the USA.  The College of Bishop and the Standing Committee will present a joint session on plans for a provincial strategy, which Synod will reflect on, and the Provincial Youth Committee will share its work over the year.

On Friday morning, Synod will consider the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in an interactive session on the Nicene Creed, and Synod will be asked to consider further modifications and clarifications to the process for electing Bishops following the successful elections under the new rules of the Bishops of Argyll & The Isles, and Glasgow & Galloway.

The morning session will also contain updates from the provincial Mission Board and the Legacy of Slavery working group, and a presentation on charity governance.

In the afternoon the Net Zero team will present, and the Liturgy Committee will introduce a series of changes to tidy up the list of authorised liturgies, introduce a new liturgy for Blessing of a Marriage, and discuss the inclusion of Eric Liddell in the Calendar.  The final sessions of the day will consider the Saint Ninian declaration of friendship between the SEC and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.

The final day’s agenda features a discussion on assisted dying, taking note of the bill proceeding through the Scottish Parliament, and a motion seeking to affirm the place of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people within the life of the SEC.  Later in the session Synod will examine proposals for quota for the coming year, and will hold committee elections.

As usual, the proceedings at Synod will be live-streamed online.

Additionally, the opening day will see the Provincial Global Partnerships Committee invite Synod members to take part in Thursdays in Black, where participants wear black every Thursday as part of the campaign to end violence against women.