Elections
Diocesan Synod elections
Diocesan Synod requires 120 Parish representatives, 60 clergy and 60 lay members. After the first round of elections there are still places left unfilled. If you wish to stand for one of the vacancies you should contact your Area Dean. You can find out more about what the Diocesan Synod does and why you should stand on our Diocesan Synod page.
The next Diocesan Synod is on November 2nd and will start with the elections from among their members of a Lay Chair and a Clergy Chair, who are vice-presidents of the Diocesan Synod.
- Role descriptions can be found here:
- Nomination forms can be found here.
To be nominated you must have a proposer and a seconder from the same house as the role for which you wish to be nominated.
Bishop’s Council elections
The members of Diocesan Synod will, from among their members, elect Bishop’s Council members, who are the Trustees of the Portsmouth Diocesan Board of Finance (among other responsibilities) – a more detailed description of Bishop’s Council can be found here:
There will be the need for each Deanery to be represented by a Clergy and Lay Member of Diocesan Synod and, because there must be more lay members than clergy members, there will be a few additional spaces for Lay Trustees.
Vacancy-in- See Committee
A bishop looks after a ‘see’, so when there is a vacancy in a bishop’s post, it is called a Vacancy in See. The previous committee recruited Bishop Jonathan. The next committee may well (hopefully) not have anything to do during their three-year term, but we are obliged to have a full committee in place.
Portsmouth Diocesan Board of Patronage
The Portsmouth Diocesan Board of Patronage is Patron of 15 of our Parishes. The Board consists of a mixture of elected personnel both Lay and Ordained and those who are members because of the office they hold (Archdeacons, Area Deans and Lay Chairs of their Areas when a vacancy occurs in their area of responsibility). Membership is NOT restricted to Diocesan Synod members.
You can read more about how the Board operates here.
The clerical and lay members are elected by the separate Houses of the Diocesan Synod. Elected members hold office for a term of six years beginning on January 1 following their election. Five lay members and three clergy members are elected to the Board. Nomination forms will be available to download from here after November 5th.