Polarised views on marriage slipped into other debates, however - most unexpectedly during the approval of a draft Order prescribing parochial fees for the next term. This was accepted by a self-confessed “tired” Bishop Snow, who later described it as an “open, thoughtful, and gracious debate”. Members agreed, in the expectation that more concrete proposals will be brought back in July. Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, proposed that the debate be cut short through a procedural motion. But after an amendment calling for “legally secure structural provision” had been defeated, the Archdeacon of Liverpool, the Ven. Speakers managed to avoid restating personal views on how the agreed Prayers of Love and Faith (blessings for same-sex couples) would be implemented. A motion from the lead bishop on LLF, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow - that the Synod “welcome” a set of ten commitments to the process – was aired. During a short debate, Nigel Bacon (Lincoln) said: “Whatever side of the issue we stand on, the tenor of recent debates has, sadly, done us all a disservice.”ĭebates on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process have certainly been fraught in the past few years. Too many people are getting hurt.”Īnother motion, also passed on Saturday, requested the Business Committee to revise the current Synod members’ code of conduct. Sometimes, when things go wrong, they go wrong badly. Introducing the debate on Saturday, the Revd Dr Sara Batts-Neale (Chelmsford) said that the motion was “not about a one-off loss of temper, a one-parish incident, a one clash of personalities. A review would include consideration of a disciplinary process for the removal of PCC members who showed “persistent departures from acceptable standards of behaviour”. The Revd Sonia Barron (Lincoln) recalled experiences of lay churchgoers who felt that they “owned the church” and so could openly undermine or intimidate the incumbent.Īlso approved by a large majority was a Chelmsford diocesan synod motion asking whether a code of conduct for PCC members and lay volunteers might be drawn up. Many personal examples of abuse of clergy by lay people were given during the debate. It asked the Synod to recognise “the serious pastoral problems and unfairness that arise while clergy can be subject to penalties for bullying that include prohibition and removal from office but there is no means of disqualifying a churchwarden, PCC member, or other lay officer who is guilty of bullying from holding office.”
Mark Ireland (Blackburn), and approved, on Sunday afternoon. Three motions dealing with behaviour were brought to the Synod.Ī private members’ motion on sanctioning lay officers for bullying ( News, 9 February) was brought by the Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. “Suffering and enemies are faced best in communities with trust across the divide rather than in self-protecting and reinforcing huddles.” This was difficult, but the Church would not be able to minister to the outside world unless it was dealing well with its own internal issues. “We need to assume the best rather than the worst,” Archbishop Welby warned members. In his presidential address at the start of the February sessions last Friday, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that observers of the Synod’s deliberations in recent times had noted the “angst-ridden tone” and “unfair attacks” - bitterness and personal abuse had become normalised in the Church, he said. Because of this, they can also be great to use during preaching.AFTER early warnings about tone, and with a motion on members’ conduct on the agenda, the General Synod took a more gracious approach to the wide range of issues up for debate in Church House, Westminster, over last weekend. A still background can provide a great look without drawing too much attention. If your congregation isn’t used to having video on their screens, it might be best to keep your worship slides simple for a season. You can use them as you first get used to creating your slides and work your congregation up to using motions.
If you’re just jumping into using visuals at your church, still backgrounds are a great place to start. If you’re not ready to spend, stills are the go-to option because they are almost always available for free.
While you can find free motions here and there around the web, for the most part, motion backgrounds cost money. However, there are a few reasons that you may choose to use still backgrounds instead. These days, it’s most common for churches to use motion backgrounds, which are looping videos made specifically for displaying text, in their worship services.