A surfeit of CNC business in 2025

On 18 September 2024, the House of Bishops agreed[1] on proposals to simplify the Crown Nominations Commission process:

“That this House, regretting the difficulties in the recent CNC processes[2] as set out in HB(24)30 welcome the recommendations as set out in paragraphs 12 to 14 of that  paper and request that work be undertaken to bring the  proposals to Synod”.

Paper HB(24)30 states:

“Subject to the views of the House of Bishops, a formal proposal would be developed for consultation with the CNC Central Members at their next meeting with the Archbishops in November, before being submitted to the Standing Order Committee for them to report to General Synod in February 2025”.

The report of the CNC is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday 11 February 2025, followed by a “”take note” debate; on the morning of Thursday 13 February, there will a consideration of the proposed Amendments to the Standing Orders relating to the Crown Nominations Commission.

CNC Meetings in 2025

A comprehensive picture of the processes involved is available on Peter Owen’s web site, English Diocesan See Vacancies. The CNC meetings scheduled for 2025 are: January and March, Carlisle; October and November, Ely;  March and April, St Edmundsbury and Ipswich; May and June, Worcester. In addition to Canterbury  which was vacant from 7 January 2025, the See of St Albans will be vacant from 1 June this year. In terms of their eligibility as Archbishop of Canterbury, this year there will be nine diocesan bishops who are over 65, and also the Archbishop of York.

Some comments into the work likely to be involved have been provided by Simon Kershaw on Thinking Anglicans here and here.

Updated: 27 January 2025 at 08:04. 


Notes

[1] 27 votes to 9, with 3 abstentions.

[2] The CNC was unable to appoint a new Bishops of Carlisle (vacant since 31 August 2023) and Bishop of  Ely (vacant since 20 July 2023).

Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "A surfeit of CNC business in 2025" in Law & Religion UK, 23 January 2025, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2025/01/23/a-surfeit-of-cnc-business-in-2025/

2 thoughts on “A surfeit of CNC business in 2025

  1. The proposals approved by the House of Bishops in September, to be brought to General Synod for approval, were not to ‘simplify’ the CNC process but to make controversial changes, some of which were rejected when proposed in February 2019, in response to the perceived reasons why the CNCs for Carlisle and Ely had failed to agree on a person to nominate as the new bishop.

    I understand that the agenda and supporting papers for next month’s GS group of sessions are due to be published at 2.00 pm today, 23 January, so we should know then precisely what changes to the Synod’s Standing Orders relating to the CNC are to be proposed.

    • Thanks for the clarification, David. The title of my initial post was based upon the Church of England Press Release “Bishops back proposals to simplify the nomination process for diocesan bishops” which was my fault for believing what the CofE says!
      Nevertheless, we would be pleased to receive a guest post on the Report of the Crown Nominations Commission, GS 2379, should you wish to submit one…
      Best regards
      David

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