Reflections on being a General Synod Young Adult Representative

Eleanor Motion from Bath and Wells has been chosen as one of five Young Adult Representatives to join General Synod to help raise the voices of young people in the Church of England. 

The Young Adult Reps initiative is part of a pilot project involving five dioceses including Bath and Wells. Eleanor joins others from Portsmouth, Leicester, York, and Blackburn, to bring the voices of young adults directly into General Synod. The motion passed in February last year, created a pathway for the young adults to engage with Synod discussions. And as part of the pilot, the five young adult representatives, have been co-opted onto Synod for the remainder of this term.

Rich Miles, Missional Priest for Youth and Young Adults, says, “The long-term aim is not simply to appoint representatives, but to inspire and equip young adults to stand for election to General Synod in their own right. Currently, there is only one Synod member under the age of 30, highlighting the need for better age representation. This isn’t about tokenism or succession planning; it’s about making space so young adults can shape the future of the Church alongside everyone else. 

“If we want to reflect the whole body of Christ, their voices need to be in the room, speaking for themselves We can’t say young people matter and then leave them outside the decision-making room.”
 

At General Synod Eleanor spent time with the other representatives and took part in a fringe meeting. Here she shares her blog with us about her experiences.

General Synod Blog

I’ve spent the last few days at Church House for the February sessions of General Synod. It’s a strange place to be—part political arena, part cathedral, and a lot of waiting. Being a young adult in these spaces usually means balancing a lot of different feelings: respect for the tradition, but a real, quiet impatience for the Church to catch up to the world we actually live in.

The first address was by Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah. She talked about calm, consistency and compassion. One points that stuck with me is her hopeful ending note asking Synod to ‘flex the muscle of hope’. This was a beautiful point after mentioning safeguarding which was a debate that came up later in the week. A metaphor she used was about ‘wind and waves rocking the boat’ which after the last few years in the Church of England is needed more than ever.
 
Honestly, one of the most moving parts of the whole week was the mental health debate. It’s an issue that hits differently for my generation—we’ve basically grown up in the shadow of a pandemic and a mental health system that feels like it’s constantly on the edge of a breakdown. What really got me was how personal the testimonies were. This wasn’t some dry, corporate policy talk. We heard from people—both clergy and lay—who have actually been in the “dark places” themselves. It felt raw and, for once, actually honest. Another thing that moved me was one of our young adult voices reps went up to speak on the subject, it was really moving to see one of our young adult reps sharing their own experiences and being heard in the chamber.

A really amazing opportunity I had was being invited to an evening reception. There’s something very cool about being in a building with that much history, but honestly, the best part was just the change of scenery. After days of sitting in rows of chairs and staring at voting screens, it was nice to just… be. The vibe was way more relaxed—just people from all different “sides” of the debates actually sharing a drink and a conversation. I had an amazing conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s husband learning about how he found out she got the job as Archbishop of Canterbury and behind the scenes of their life now. I also got a photo with both Archbishops which was really cool because as a gift at the end of the week we were given a framed photo of that moment.

We had our own fringe event on the Thursday, and I was asked to speak and share my experiences as a young adult in the church of England. Some of the main points that were made were being heard, I know sharing this was hard for me because it was a personal story but with the support of my group and knowing this message could make a good change in the church, I knew I had to do this. William, Joel, Pip and Rob who are also in our group where part of talking on the smaller tables we had set up with snacks, on them we had good conversations about what we want to change and what our opinions on issues. It was good to have an informal chat after a long week of formal acts and before the living and loving faith debate it was good to have a relaxed chat in a friendly space.

One of the most important debates happened on Thursday called living and loving faith, this debate is one we have been warned might be a lot to handle. The whole chamber was full so me and a few of the others in our group went to sit in the gallery which was better because we could see the whole chamber and who was voting for what. While the paperwork says we are moving into a new phase, for many of us, it just feels like more waiting. It’s hard to put into words the weight of these debates when they involve the lives and identities of people you care about. It’s not just “business” for us. It’s personal.

I’m writing this now that I’m actually home and the adrenaline has finally worn off. Going to Synod is kind of like being in a pressure cooker; you’re so deep in the “Church House bubble” that you forget there’s a whole world outside that doesn’t know what an “Amended Motion” is. On one hand, it feels like we’re in a massive “in-between” season. With the new Archbishop settling in and the LLF process moving into a new phase, there’s a lot of “wait and see” in the air. For a young person, “waiting” is usually the hardest part. We want the inclusion, we want the climate action, and we want the mental health support now. But on the other hand, I’m leaving with a weird sense of hope. Seeing the young adult voices actually taking up space, hearing the raw honesty in the mental health debate, and even just the casual chats at the Lambeth reception reminded me why I show up.

The Church is slow, yeah, but it’s not standing still. The feeling of us now being the future of the church is giving us a sense of hope and the plans to expand our group to every diocese in England is already in motion, so if you want to be involved ask your vicar, ask your deans, ask your archdeacons and ask your bishops help us spread our voices because we are in the Synod now we can make a change for our future church.

I want to give a big thanks to Andy Wolfe, Tim Norwood, Bishop Jonathan Frost, Stephen Beamond and Liz Kaddour for making this opportunity happen and for running the amazing group.