CONVOCATIONS OF CANTERBURY AND
YORK
History
The division of the English Church into the Provinces of
Canterbury and York dates from 735. By the beginning of the
fifteenth century each Province had a Convocation, an
ecclesiastical assembly the membership of which consisted of the
archbishop and bishops, the abbots and priors, the deans and
provosts of cathedrals and collegiate churches, the archdeacons,
two proctors for the clergy of each diocese and one for the chapter
of each collegiate church. The clergy formed the Lower House and
the bishops the Upper House of each Convocation.
The Reformation made no change to the structure or procedures of
the Convocations, except that their size was considerably reduced
following the dissolution of the monasteries and the canon law made
by the Convocations was subordinated to the Crown and to the
statute law made by Parliament.
In 1919 the Church Assembly was formed under the Church Assembly
(Powers) Act. It consisted of the Convocations together with a
House of Laity and its Constitution and Procedures were under the
control of the Convocations. The Church Assembly had power to pass
measures which, if approved by parliament, received Royal assent
and became part of the statute law of England. The Convocations
continued to exist alongside the Church Assembly, retaining their
traditional powers. Canon Law continued to be made by the
Convocations, meeting and voting separately. In 1970 the Church
Assembly was replaced by the General Synod, which consists of the
Convocations of Canterbury and York together with a House of Laity.
The Upper Houses of the Convocations combine to form the House of
Bishops and the Lower Houses combine to form the House of Clergy.
The Convocations continue to exist, and although most of their
powers were transferred to the General Synod, they do retain some
residual rights.
Constitution
Each of the Convocations consists of two Houses, an Upper House
and a Lower House. The Upper House consists of all the diocesan
bishops in the Province, the Bishop of Dover (in the case of the
Convocation of Canterbury), bishops elected by the suffragan
bishops of the Province, and any other bishops residing in the
province who are members of the Archbishops' Council. The
Archbishop presides. The Lower House comprises clergy (other than
bishops) who have been elected, appointed or chosen in accordance
with Canon H2 and the rules made under it (including deans,
archdeacons, proctors from the dioceses and university
constituencies and clerical members of religious communities)
together with ex-officio members. The Prolocutor chairs meetings
and acts as spokesperson of the House.
Members of the Convocations
|
Canterbury |
York |
| Upper House |
| Diocesan Bishops.................. |
30 |
14 |
| Suffragan Bishops................. |
6 |
3 |
|
36 |
17 |
| Lower House |
| Deans |
3 |
2 |
| Dean of Jersey or Guernsey |
1 |
|
| Service Chaplains |
3 |
|
| Chaplain-General of Prisons |
1 |
|
| Elected Proctors |
128 |
54 |
| University Proctors |
4 |
2 |
| Religious Communities |
1 |
1 |
| Co-opted Clergy |
0 |
1 |
|
141 |
60 |
Officers
Convocation of Canterbury
President Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams
(Archbishop of Canterbury)
Prolocutor of the Lower House Ven Norman Russell
Other Officers
Pro-Prolocutors:
Preb David Houlding
Ven Christine Hardman
Standing Committee of the Lower House
Ven Norman Russell (Prolocutor)
Preb David Houlding (Pro-Prolocutor)
Ven Christine Hardman (Pro-Prolocutor)
Preb Kay Garlick
Revd Moira Astin
Revd Peter Hobson
Revd Richard Moy
Revd Stephen Trott
Registrar Stephen Slack
Synodical Secretary, Actuary, and Editor of the Chronicle of
Convocation
Revd Stephen Trott, Rectory, 41 Humfrey Lane, Boughton,
Northampton, NN2 8RQ
Ostiarius Clive McCleester, Head Virger of St George's
Chapel, Windsor Castle
Convocation of York
President Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu
(Archbishop of York)
Prolocutor of the Lower House Revd Canon Glyn Webster
Other Officers
Deputy Prolocutors:
Canon Judy Hunt
Canon Simon Killwick
Assessors for the Upper House
The Bishop of Manchester
The Bishop of Blackburn
Assessors for the Lower House
Canon Glyn Webster (Prolocutor)
Canon Judy Hunt (Deputy Prolocutor)
Canon Simon Killwick (Deputy Prolocutor)
Ven Peter Ballard
Revd Ruth Worsley
Canon Sue Penfold
Canon Peter Mann
Revd Peter Spiers
Registrar Lionel Lennox
Registrar (Provincial Elections) Stephen Slack
Synodal Secretary and Treasurer and Editor of the Journal of
Convocation
The Ven Alan Wolstencroft, The Bakehouse, 1 Latham Row,
Horwich, Bolton, BL6 6QZ
Apparitor Peter Gibson
ACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
For the Acts and Proceedings of the Convocations, readers are
referred to The Chronicle of the Convocation of Canterbury and to
the York Journal of Convocation - see below. Back numbers are
available from Wm Dawson & Sons Ltd, Cannon House, Folkestone,
Kent.
Chronicle of the Convocation of Canterbury
Proceedings of the Convocation of York
- Proceedings of the Convocation November 24 2010