Presidential Address to Diocesan Synod
by the Rt. Rev. James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool
8 March 2008
Over the ten years I have been Bishop of Liverpool I have from time to time used my Presidential Address to deal with some of the major issues facing our society. Today I would like to offer some reflections on the Reform of the House of Lords, the role of the 26 Bishops in the Upper Chamber and the Establishment of the church of England.
As you know I take seriously my own role: I do duty for three separate weeks in the year which involves being away from the Diocese and in addition go down to London each Monday afternoon returning on Tuesday evening when Parliament is sitting.
The presence of the Bishops in Parliament as “the Lords Spiritual” raises questions about both the established church and the character of the second chamber which is the subject of review by the Government.
Parliament is a legislative assembly and the House of Lords is essentially a revising body with the ultimate power residing, rightly in my opinion, with the elected House of Commons.
Most observers recognise that the quality of debate and the quality of the amendments to legislation in the House of Lords are of a high order. This is not surprising because the appointed members are drawn from a wide range of society and bring to the debate a depth of experience and an application of expertise often absent in the Commons. Out of this body of knowledge there is wisdom that makes for better laws. The Lords have power to revise the legislation but the Commons have the last word. The question for those reforming the House of Lords is in my opinion not how do you make it more democratic, but rather how do you draw into this revision chamber the elders of our society with the experience and the expertise to revise and refine the laws that cover the whole spectrum of our common life.
I am not convinced that a so-called ‘democratic system’ manipulated as it is by both the media and the machinery of party politics will yield up the sort of people with the breadth of experience that is necessary for the refining of good laws. There needs to be a method of appointment that is beyond reproach and accountable to Parliament in order to secure from every walk of life people of integrity and wisdom many of which are alienated from the machinations of partisan politics. This body of elders should include alongside the professions and the trades those who are pastors in the community. Spiritual leaders from the different faith communities have an understanding of human need and nature that equips them to comment on and shape the legislation. That is why Lords Spiritual, regardless of their historical place, have I believe a role to play in Parliament in the contemporary world.
At present that role is secured by virtue of the Established Church. Questions are rightly asked both from within and outside Christendom as to whether in a society where many faiths are practised Christianity as expressed in the Church of England should have such a prominent position and one that is enshrined in law.
One of the welcome features of the present House of Lords is that other faiths such as Islam, Hinduism and Judaism are in evidence on the benches of all parties. They are, of course, represented individually but they add indisputably to the breadth of the House and to the authority to legislate on so many issues from Assisted Dying to Incitement to Religious Hatred. If the other faiths were not already manifest in the House I think there would be huge pressure to ensure their presence through statutory reform.
But why should the Church of England continue to be represented and to be by law established? Why should the Senior Bishops continue to sit in the House of Lords by right? I think it has to do with history, symbol, demography, authority and representation.
Within the multi-faith settlement that is emerging in our society there is a uniqueness about the place of Christianity in British culture that is central to our character as a nation and gives the Church of England a distinctive role within the diverse practice of faith today.
Historically Christianity has shaped the culture and institutions of our national life. Our Laws, our Liberty, our Language, our Literature, our Landscape, our Learning and our Leisure. All these L’s are infused with the ethos of Christianity. Each has been and continues to be open to other influences but their development has been the product of Christian faith as surely as a sculpture is shaped by the imagination of the sculptor. Our Laws stretch back to the Ten Commandments, our Liberty owes a debt to the Christian champions of parliamentary democracy, our Language and Literature resonate with themes and images from the Bible, our Landscape is studded with thousands of churches, sermons in stone, our institutions of Learning from schools to universities owe their origins to the Christian imperative to educate all those made in the image of God and our Leisure, from the arts to music, echo the inspiration that derives from Christian faith, hope and love. However much we must value the faith of other believers we cannot deny the Christian story that has sculpted our own culture.
This history is not locked in a museum but finds contemporary expression in the fact that the Church of England is a presence in every community across the country. The Post Office may have gone, the corner shop may have closed, the surgery and school may have disappeared, even the pub may have shut but the church is still there, and in some of our most deprived urban and rural settings surprisingly vibrant. Of all the faith communities it is a fact that the Church of England is unique in maintaining a presence in each neighbourhood. Indeed, it is the commitment of this Diocese where over 45% of the parishes are in areas of multiple deprivation that we maintain a “sustainable, led and transforming Christian presence in every community”. By virtue of its inheritance and its historic resources the Church of England is there with the people.
This history and this demography give to the Church of England a remarkable authority. Unlike other professionals who bus in and out of areas of need our people live there. Our clergy and our people are there 24/7. This gives the Church of England unusual authority to speak especially to those in power about both comfortable and uncomfortable Britain. If you read the speeches of Bishops in the House of Lords you will find they do not shrink from this calling. They speak as they find. They are critical friends to those in Government. From Asylum Seekers to Prisons, from urban regeneration to the rural economy Bishops challenge policy and amend legislation in the light of the church’s pastoral knowledge. Of course, members of the House of other faiths and of none also speak passionately to these issues.
But the Church of England, as one of the few omnipresent institutions in the country has a special responsibility to speak prophetically out of its unique corporate and pastoral experience. It does so with an authority from below – from its practical engagement with the people.
Some within the church challenge this very point about being able to speak prophetically because they argue the presence of Bishops in the House of Lords reeks of privilege. It’s a serious point. I have to confess that there have been moments when I have felt intimidated. I am tempted to say that one particular episode will have to wait for my memoirs. But I have no intention of writing such a book our of the conviction that the only things worth reading would be those that as a priest I should take to the grave.
I think temptations to compromise are very real but I do not think that the temptation itself constitutes an objection in principle. Nor do I think that the prophetic voice of the church is muffled or muted by establishment. Indeed, it is because the Church of England is established that comments especially those critical of the Government or society are leapt upon by the media – more so than those of other faith leaders with the exception of the Chief Rabbi. The critical prophetic voice is amplified by virtue of the Church of England’s established position. Its opportunity to speak certainly comes from its establishment but its authority comes from below because it is connected with the people at the grass-roots.
Although critics of the church’s established position use pejorative terms such as ‘privilege’ the reality is that Bishops see themselves exercising ‘responsibility’ in bringing to bear spiritual values on public policy and legislation. They do that mindful that they are acting in a representative role on behalf of faith communities generally in their own areas.
I certainly am conscious of that dimension and am encouraged by people such as Akbar Ali and Shiv Pande that the Muslim and Hindu communities of Merseyside see me as their champion. Thus, I hosted the Divali Reception at the Town Hall and welcomed Hindus from all over England for their ceremonies on the River Mersey which has for them the status of the Ganges.
Thus, I am the Patron of the Abdullah Quilliam Centre helping to raise funds for the Muslim Heritage and Education Centre to promote as true example British Islam. I do this in obedience to the Second Great Commandment to love your neighbour as yourself. Welcoming and affirming the other Faith Communities does not compromise my conviction that Christianity has uniquely shaped our culture and that the Church of England has a unique and continuing place in our constitution. It has a representative function speaking up for the importance of faith in public life. This was precisely the point being made by the Prince of Wales. This generous hospitality does not diminish the uniqueness and distinctiveness of the Church of England and its role in our national life. I believe if flows from and further enhances that role of the Church of England as pastor to the nation.
‘Pastor to the Nation’ is a role that the Church of England occupies especially in and through the media as it ministers to the community locally and nationally. We saw it here with the tragic killing of Rhys Jones. The media coverage however, only scratched the surface of what the church was doing at a local level. Recently in our clergy study day looking at the changing face of the Church of England I recounted these episodes of the clergy at work in the community when Rhys was killed.
David Williams - the chaplain at Alder Hey - visiting the family in their immediate grief. David Leslie – the parish priest working with Father Andrew ecumenically - ministering to the community and to the family through their pastoral visits, vigils and offering prophetic comment on our society. Mark Coleman – chair of the Governing Body of Rhys School - coming alongside parents and children and as Area Dean supporting his colleagues. Harry Ross – Chaplain to Everton – ministering to fans who felt a special solidarity with the family, all Evertonians. Ian Brooks – at St Paul Croxteth - where the gangs roam and Helen Bennett at Christ Church Norris Green quietly in the background comforting and strengthening the communities most immediately affected. Ricky Panter as Archdeacon offering oversight to the clergy as the absorbed the stresses and strains of the tragedy. The Acting Dean, Anthony Hawley, facilitating the funeral in the Cathedral which had a national and international audience. David Marshall – Acting Press Officer – on loan to us from Manchester, co-ordinating our communication with the wider world.
Here was the Church of England doing what it does day in and day out. When its Bishops sit and speak in the House of Lords or speak through the media they do so connected to this pastoral reality. We do not trumpet these things because indeed the strength of our work lies in its very discretion. However, when people want to challenge the right of the Church of England to occupy symbolically in Parliament that position as pastor to the nation it is important for us to rehearse before others what it is that the Church of England is in essence and still is at the heart of our communities,.
The Rt. Rev. James Jones
Bishop of Liverpool