At its meeting on 9th October the Diocesan Council (the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Dunedin Synod) spent considerable time reflecting on what had taken place at Synod around Selwyn College. We also tabled correspondence from a variety of individuals and groups who had written to the Council expressing opinions and concerns.
Please refer to an earlier article giving a summary of the Selwyn resolution from Synod 2018.
The Diocesan Council moved and unanimously agreed the following motion:
That the Diocesan Council:
Notes the decisions of the Diocesan Synod regarding Selwyn College;
Commits to a further process of consultation with interested parties before acting under the authorisation given;
Will consider, alongside the consultation process, the appropriateness of submitting any final proposal to another Synod (whether in ordinary or special session) before acting under the authority given.
What does this mean?
We have begun a process of pulling together a consultation panel who will invite further submissions (written and in person) from people who have a view to share on the Selwyn College proposal. This will be facilitated by an independent Chair who will also assist us in developing terms of reference, selecting panel members and determining exactly how the consultation will take place.
At this stage, we envisage that the panel will: listen to and read submissions; identify key themes and; make recommendations to the Diocesan Council on how this can be progressed further. This may involve calling a special Synod to consider this matter again before our next scheduled Synod in September 2019. The Panel will also consider correspondence around Selwyn received to date in overall submissions.
Who will be involved?
The Diocesan Council has suggested some names of potential chairs and panel members to the Bishop: we are currently negotiating with a Chair and are continuing to think about panel members who could bring wisdom and impartiality to the process.
How long will this take?
We don’t want this to be a protracted process, but also want to give enough time for individuals and groups to participate. There are a wide range of potential stakeholders and we need to base any consultation on the three-Tikanga structure of the Church, as well as any appropriate General Synod Committees. We will give more information about the process and time frames once this has been determined.