Anne makes history as the first Church Army sister to Chair General Synod
1 July 2004
The first week of July this year is not likely to be forgotten easily by Church Army’s Anne Williams. On 8th July she will be admitted to the office of evangelist in Sheffield Cathedral by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a few days later Anne will become the first female evangelist in the 122 year history of Church Army to chair a session of General Synod, which takes place in York between 9th and 13th July this year. This is swiftly followed by her formal licensing at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Ford Estate, Sunderland by The Bishop of Jarrow in her new role as Community Missioner.
Anne, who has been Vice-Chairman of Forward in Faith since 1994 and has previously served as a District Councillor in Easington, is delighted to have been asked to chair Synod; “I have been a representative of Durham Diocese on General Synod since 1990 and feel very honoured to have been invited to serve in this way. Although I love the cut and thrust of the debates, members can be assured that I will do my best to ensure we keep to the timetable and get smoothly through all the business we need to.”
As an opponent of the ordination of women, the irony of being the first Church Army Sister to Chair Synod is not lost on Anne; “Some folk have very strange ideas about what I stand for. I believe passionately in the ministry of women within the church, we have a tremendous role to play across the church in mission and evangelism. However so often we do not recognise the gifts God has given us or if we do recognise them we are not encouraged to use them to their fullest potential.”
“During my College training I have been sustained and encouraged by the mutual respect shown by fellow Christians of differing views. Women’s ordination has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and I hope that whilst respecting each other's views we can now get on with doing those things we can do together and put all our focus and efforts on God's Mission of Love for His church.”
Anne has been an evangelist in training for the past 18 months at Church Army’s Wilson Carlile College and has welcomed the opportunity this has given her to explore her calling and has strengthened her resolve to encourage more laity to step out and become full-time evangelists. As Anne points out, “I never imagined that at 56, I would pack up and go to college to become and evangelist. I am learning so much, being challenged in God’s name daily and feel very privileged.”
Commenting on her appointment to Chair General Synod the Bishop of Jarrow said; “I am delighted that Anne has been afforded this honour. She has served the diocese and the national Church well for a number of years. I look forward to licensing her in July to her new role as Community Missioner on the Ford estate in Sunderland and Mission Enabler working with catholic parishes across the diocese. This is an exciting new post which will fully engage Anne’s many gifts and infectious enthusiasm. She will be part of an emerging team of local missioners supported by our new Diocesan Missioner and Anne will be a key member of that team. I know she has greatly valued her training at the Wilson Carlile College of Evangelism and is now eager to get into action.”
Stephen Parkinson, Director of Forward in Faith added; “ Over the past few years as Vice-Chairman of Forward in Faith, Anne has demonstrated an admirable ability at chairing sessions of our annual conference and I am only surprised it has taken General Synod this long to discover her talent!.”
Philip Johanson OBE, Church Army’s Chief Secretary comments; “This is a deserved honour for Anne and I am delighted that the work of our evangelists is recognised in this way. Anne cares passionately about mission and evangelism and this provides a great encouragement to our evangelists who are working so hard to make a difference at the cutting edge.”
