CANON 1: OF THE PROVINCIAL SYNOD – Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Chapter 1 LEGISLATIVE BODIES (1)

Amended at Provincial Synod 2021

1.Notice of Provincial Synod

(a) The Metropolitan (or other Bishop convening the Provincial Synod) shall give to all the Diocesan Bishops at least seven calendar months’ notice of every ordinary Session of the Provincial Synod.

(b) The Bishop of each Diocese shall cause such notice to be published, during Divine Service, in the several churches of the Diocese, on some Sunday not later than the fourth Sunday after receipt of such notice.

(d) When a special Session is convened, four months’ notice shall be sufficient, and the Metropolitan shall give a general intimation, so far as may be, of the purposes for which the Synod is summoned.

(e) Emergency Synod

The Metropolitan, after consultation with the Metropolitan’s Executive, can convene an emergency Synod, within 30 days, if extraordinary circumstances exist which justifies such a Synod. The circumstances for the calling of an emergency Synod will be in the sole discretion of the Metropolitan.

(f) The Session, the Committee of Synod and all other meetings held in connection with the Session may be held in person or virtually, or partly in one form and partly in the other, as the Metropolitan or the Metropolitan’s deputy as provided for in Canon 1.4, by virtue of being President of Synod, may allow or decide.

2(a) The Diocesan Team

(I) The Diocesan Team: All Dioceses of this Province shall be entitled to send up to three clerical and up to three lay representatives (or their alternates) to Synod.

(ii) In electing its representatives each diocese shall take cognisance of the requirements of Act XVI.

2(b) Additional Representatives

A Diocese may in addition send extra representatives, as part of the Diocesan Team and as full members of Synod, any Provincial President (or equivalent officer) of a Provincial Organisation (as defined in Act XVI), if such President (or equivalent officer) ordinarily resides in the Diocese.

2(c) Present with right to speak but not vote

The following persons shall be entitled to be present at Synod with the right to speak but not to vote, save for the administrative staff referred to in sub-section (vi) below, who may be invited to speak by the President:

(i) The members of the Provincial Synod Advisory Committee;
(ii) One representative nominated by the Board of Theological Education;
(iii Two representatives from the religious communities nominated by the Council for Religious Life;
(iv) Up to six Provincial lay officers, at the invitation of the Metropolitan;
(v) Up to ten persons (as general and specialist advisors) at the invitation of the Metropolitan, unless the Metropolitan considers that exceptional circumstances justify the invitation of more;
(vi) Up to eight administrative staff, as determined by the Advisory Committee;
(vii) The Provincial President (or equivalent officer) of a Provincial Organisation who for any reason has been omitted as an additional representative of a Diocese in terms of Section 2 (b) of this Canon, and

(viii) Youth representatives, nominated by the Metropolitan, who shall be confirmed communicants over the age of 18 and office-bearers of provincial youth organizations or structures recognized by the Church of this Province.

2(d) Election of PSC Representatives

(I) Each Diocese shall, when electing its representatives to Provincial Synod at the same time elect out of those representatives, one clerical and one lay representative (and their alternates) to Provincial Standing Committee.

(ii) Such representatives will hold office as such from the closing of the session of Provincial Synod which they attended as Diocesan representatives until the day immediately before the day the next session of Provincial Synod commences.

3. Election of Clerical and Lay Representatives

The Clerical and Lay Representatives of a Diocese shall be elected in such a manner, and according to such rules, as the Diocesan Synod shall appoint in that behalf, or, if there be no Diocesan Synod in that Diocese, then, as the Bishop of the Diocese or (in the vacancy of the See) as the Metropolitan shall appoint.

(a) Clerical

Provided that no one shall be qualified to be a Clerical Representative, except a person in Holy Orders ordinarily resident in the Diocese and not in retirement at the time of election.

(b) Lay

Provided, further that no one shall be qualified to be a Lay Representative, or to take any part in the election of a Lay Representative, in the Provincial Synod, except as a Communicant of this Church of the age of eighteen years or upwards and be ordinarily resident in the Diocese.

4. President

(a) The Metropolitan is, by virtue of the office, the President of the Provincial Synod; in the vacancy of the See, or in the unavoidable absence of the Metropolitan, the Dean of the Province, appointed as hereinafter (in section 2 of Canon 2 Of the Metropolitan) described, or in the absence of the Dean, the Bishop senior by consecration, who is present, shall preside.

(b) At any time during the proceedings of Provincial Synod, the Metropolitan may delegate the office of President to some other member of Synod on such conditions as the Metropolitan deems fit. Such delegation may not be for periods of longer than one day, unless Provincial Synod consents otherwise.

5. House of Bishops

The Bishops of the Province, and Missionary Bishops of the Province, if any, sent forth by the Bishops of the Province, constitute a separate House of the Provincial Synod, and, whenever they may judge it to be expedient, they can deliberate by themselves.

6. Certification of Representatives

The Bishop of each Diocese shall furnish the names of the Representatives of that Diocese to the Registrar of the Province not later than thirty days before the Session of the Synod, and shall certify that the said Representatives, both Clerical and Lay, are duly qualified, and have been duly elected.

7. Prolocutor and Chairperson of Laity

At the commencement of every Session of the Provincial Synod the Clerical Representatives (hereinafter in this Canon described as ‘the Clergy’) shall elect one of their number as their Prolocutor, and the Lay Representatives (hereinafter in this Canon described as ‘the Laity’) shall elect one of their number as their Chairperson.

8. Separate Deliberation

(a) Whenever the House of Bishops shall withdraw to deliberate by themselves, leaving the Clergy and the Laity to deliberate together, or if at any time, whether or not the House of Bishops be present, the Clergy or the Laity decide by a majority vote of either of their two Houses to deliberate apart, the sitting of Synod shall be suspended during the progress of such separate deliberations.

(b) In the absence of the House of Bishops, the Prolocutor shall preside over any joint deliberations of the Clergy and the Laity, or over any separate deliberations of the Clergy, as the case may be; and the Chairperson shall preside over any separate deliberations of the Laity.

(c) Upon the completion of such deliberations, the sitting of Synod shall be resumed, and the conclusions reached by any or all of the three. Houses during the suspension of the sitting shall be reported to Synod.

9. Quorum

(a) Unless not less than one third of the number of the Bishops of the Province shall have been recorded on the roll as present at any session of the Provincial Synod, together with not less than one third of the number of clerical representatives and one third of the number of lay representatives (excluding any additional representatives and persons provided for in terms of sections 2 (b) and 2(c) of this Canon), all acts of that session of the Provincial Synod shall be provisional, and shall have no force in any Diocese, unless and until they shall be promulgated by the Diocesan Synod of that Diocese, or, if there be no Diocesan Synod, by the Bishop of that Diocese.

(b) Provided that for the transaction of business the presence of not less than one third of the whole number of members of the House of Bishops, with not less than one third of the whole number of Clerical and Lay Representatives taken together, shall be necessary; and it shall be competent for any member of the Synod at any time to call for the counting of the members present.

10. Authentication

At the conclusion of the business of a Provincial Synod the proceedings of the Synod shalt be authenticated by the President in presence of the Synod.

11. Printing Committee

(a) A committee shall be appointed by the Synod, to cause the enactments of the Synod, together with such other parts of the proceedings as the Synod shall have ordered to be published, to be carefully printed for the general use of the Church.

(b) The said committee shall transmit to each Diocesan Bishop a copy of the Canons and proceedings so printed for the information of Diocesan Synod. Communication should as far as possible be electronic.

12. Bishops to make Alterations known

Each Diocesan Bishop shall notify, in such manner as the Bishop sees fit, to all the congregations in the Diocese, the alterations that have been made in the code of Canons.

13. Publicity or Privacy

The Meetings of the Provincial Synod shall be open to the public under such regulations as it may adopt for the maintenance of order but it shall be in the power of the President, by request of the Synod, to order at any time that the proceedings shall be conducted with closed doors.

14. Invited persons

Additional representatives and persons provided for in sections 2 (b) and 2 (c) of this Canon shall furthermore not be deemed to be Clerical or Lay Representatives in terms of Article VI of the Constitution and shall therefore be required to absent themselves from any proceedings of Synod which are conducted with closed doors in terms of section 13 of this Canon

15. Provincial Registrar

The Provincial Registrar, or one of the Deputy Provincial Registrars, shall be present at the Sessions of the Provincial Synod and shall be entitled to speak thereat, but shall not be entitled to vote unless elected as a Representative.

16. Provincial Chancellor

The Provincial Chancellor, or one of the Deputy Provincial Chancellor(s), shall be present at the Sessions of the Provincial Synod and shall be entitled to speak thereat, but shall not be entitled to vote unless elected as a Representative.