Present:
Acting Archdeacon The Ven. Arthur Siddall, AD Italy and Malta
Area Dean The Revd. Adèle Kelham, Lausanne

Basel St. Nicholas Revd. Geoff Read, Revd. Anne Lowen, Manney Harrison, David Houlton, Robert Keene
Bern St. Ursula's Revd. Canon Richard Pamplin, Hector Davie, Hans-Karl Pfyffer, Susan Zysset, Brian Morgan (Treasurer)
Geneva Holy Trinity Revd. Mike French, Revd. Maree Wilson, Kilian Anheuser, Mary Talbot
La Côte Revd. Paul Holley, Valerie Geschonke
Lausanne Christ Church Revd. Adèle Kelham, Angela Fall
Lugano St. Edward's Revd. Kate Gibson, Mary Palmesino, Linda Chiesa
Montreux St. John's Geoff Fookes
Vevey All Saints Revd. Clive Atkinson, Les Cutter, Rob Reifsnyder
Zurich St. Andrew's Revd. Canon John Newsome, Revd. Gabriel Amat, Vicky Atchison, Joan Bridgman, Marilyn Buchmann, John Waygood (St. Gallen), Miriam Keller (Secretary)
P.T.O. Revd. Andrew Ling, Revd. David Miller (Annecy & Evian)
Old Catholic Church Revd. Christoph Schuler
CMEAC Team Sonia Barron, Zahida Mallard, Revd. Simon Pothen

Apologies OC Church Bishop Rt. Revd. Fritz-René Müller, Revd. Dr. Harald Rein, Revd. K-H Neuhoff / Emmanuel Church Revd. John Beach, Helena Mbele-Mbong
Clergy Revd. Robin Stockitt, Revd. Wendy Hough, Revd. Linda Bisig, Revd. Julia Chambeyron, Revd. Canon Peter Hawker, Revd. Hugh Pettingell, Revd. Dr. Russell Hilliard
Laity Karen Bell, Jennifer West Cunningham, Geraldine Coulthurst, Philippa Martin-King, David Omumbwa, Irena Widmann

The Revd. Geoff Read opened the meeting and welcomed all those present, especially the Acting Archdeacon, The Ven. Arthur Siddall. He further announced the sad death in a road accident of Tony Selwood, Diocesan Child Protection Adviser. A condolence card was circulated for signature and will be sent to his family.

The archdeacon then thanked everyone for their work in the Swiss chaplaincies and especially Area Dean, Adèle Kelham, who deals most efficiently with immediate problems, thus relieving him of extra work. He then touched briefly on problems of security awareness - not so drastic here as in his home province of Naples -, awareness of newcomers and the welcome they receive, and pastoral support.

Morning Session (Business)

1. Approval of Minutes of Synod held on 24 June 2006
   There were no amendments and the minutes were approved and signed.

2. Matters arising
   • Synod dates (Item 10. A.O.B.) Standing Committee had decided to leave the pattern January/June for the present time.
   • Archdeaconry Representatives to Diocesan Synod: elected autumn 2006

     Clergy

     Revd. Geoff Read, Basel

     Laity

     Victoria Atchison, Zurich
     Brian Morgan, Bern

3. Finance (Brian Morgan, Bern)
   • Presentation of audited accounts 2006
     Income: As budgeted, all quotas having been paid.
     Expenditure: Some figures were over budget, some under, but in total came to less than budgeted. Brian Morgan thanked Hanskarl Pfyffer, Bern, for keeping the Choir Festival costs down. Fr. 2,200 from AD account will be transferred to the separate SAMTS account, being the balance of the Fr. 3,000.- budgeted for 2006. The final figures for 2006 show a surplus of Fr. 1,534, which makes a total of Fr. 5,418.29 to be carried forward. The SAMTS account stands at Fr. 9,849.48.
   • Auditor's Report (Hector Davie) Hector Davie had examined the accounts and found them to be correct. He thanked Brian Morgan for his work.
   • Approval of Accounts 2006 The accounts were approved unanimously.
   • Draft Budget 2007
     Ratification of our contribution to Partner Sein (aid agency of Old Catholic Church): For the last 3 years we have been supporting this overseas mission work of the OC Church, each chaplaincy paying Fr. 500.- with its quota, making a total of Fr. 4,500. Several chaplaincies make separate collections, e.g. on Trinity Sunday. The proposal to continue our support for a further 3 years with an amount of Fr. 4,500 p.a. was accepted by Synod unanimously.

     The budgeted expenditure raised no particular problems and remains much as in previous years. We are increasing the amount put aside in SAMTS by 10% to help fund the Pastoral Conference 2009. Adoption of the Budget 2007 was proposed and seconded and unanimously approved.

   • Appointment of Hon. Auditor for 2007 Hector Davie, Bern, was proposed from the Chair and duly appointed by Synod. Thank you, Hector, for all your good work.

4. Guidelines for Clergy Conditions of Employment and Pensions (Hector Davie, Bern)
   All participants at Synod had received a copy of the latest draft conditions. Hector Davie thanked the team which had been involved in drawing these up. He stressed that these are Guidelines for the employment of new chaplains and do not affect the arrangements made by chaplaincies with their present incumbents. They also do not apply to part-time clergy or curates. The main discussions centred around:
   (1) the minimum basic salary of Fr. 4,400 and the importance of pointing out to prospective applicants the purchasing power of this in Switzerland and what is left after all deductions such as income tax are made
   (2) pension schemes and the double burden of Swiss and UK contributions. Ways to get round this are continually being sought. No specific figures are available of what the situation would be for a priest opting out and in again of the UK scheme. Complications could arise with new EU (including Swiss) regulations and other factors such as disability or death before retirement. In answer to a question why chaplaincies pay all contributions (employer and employee), this is beneficial for taxes.

5. Ministerial Review (Angela Fall, Lausanne)
   The review has now come to the end of the first 3-year cycle and a report on progress will be presented at next Diocesan Synod. The scheme offers the clergy an opportunity for reflection on their ministry, with the participation of lay review partners. The question is now whether to continue the scheme. Generally it was well-accepted by the clergy. There is a need to expand the team of lay partners and clergy have been asked to recommend suitable and interested members of their chaplaincies. Archdeacon Arthur Siddall reminded clergy of the reflection charts available and pointed out that the scheme was an initiative offered to them to help them manage their problems at the earliest possible stage.

6. SACEP (Revd. Paul Holley, La Côte)
   Linda Chiesa (Lugano) is now helping with the organisation. Events planned so far are:

   •	21 - 23 September 2007	Pastoral Care in the Process of Healing with Russell Parker, from UK at Crêt Bérard
   •	14 June 2007	Science and Religion with John Polkinghorne
   •	May 2008	Archdeaconry Retreat with The Rt. Rev. John Pritchard, Bishop of Jarrow and future Bishop of Oxford

   SACEP activities will also be discussed at the next Chapter meeting.
   A suggestion was voiced that the individual Ministerial Review could be extended to a mutual (chaplaincy) review.

7. Anglican-Old Catholic Relations (Revd. Christoph Schuler, Old Catholic Church)
   Greetings from the Old Catholic Church and particularly from Bishop Fritz-René Müller. Members of the Anglican Church are invited to the OC Synod at Schaffhausen on 8/9 June 2007. Christoph Schuler then talked about the work of Partner Sein, which is the aid project of the OC Church and supported by our archdeaconry. Last year Sfr. 220,000 were spent on projects in Africa. Information can be found on www.partner-sein.ch

8. Partner Sein
   The following elections to the committee as archdeaconry lay representatives for a period of 3 years were approved
   Bryan Stone, Basel
   John Waygood, St. Gallen

9. Ecumenical Report (Area Dean, Revd. Adèle Kelham)
   The AGCK (Swiss National Council of Churches) national meeting in preparation for the EEA3 (3rd European Ecumenical Assembly, 4-8 September 2007) will be held on 10 March 2007. More about this on www.eea3.org or www.agck.ch

10. Church-State Relations (Revd. John Newsome, Zürich)
    John Newsome has now resigned as archdeaconry representative to AGCK and is replaced by Adèle Kelham. However, John Newsome presented a report (copies distributed)concerning aspects of the relationship between churches and other religious organisations towards the Swiss Confederation. This particularly concerns the legal recognition and its implications for churches other than the major churches (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Old Catholic).
    Questions which we should consider include:
    Do we think that these issues concern us and that we could benefit from some of the changes? And if so, what areas are of particular concern to us? How do we envisage taking the process further?

11. Any Other Business
    • Electoral Roll - chaplaincies are reminded that 2007 is a renewal year
    • Updating website - information to Hector Davie, please
    • Email correspondence - in principle, transmission of information will in future be by email, but there is no problem for members wishing for postal service.

12. Future Programme

    27 - 29 April	Choir Festival at Lausanne
    11 - 13 May	Archdeaconry Retreat at Foyer Montbarry
    14 June	SACEP "Science & Religion"
    16 June	Archdeaconry Synod at Bern with Bishop Geoffrey present
    21 - 23 September	SACEP "Pastoral Care in the Process of Healing" with Russell Parker, UK, at Crêt Bérard
    May 2008	Archdeaconry Retreat with visit Rt. Rev. John Pritchard, Bishop of Jarrow and future Bishop of Oxford

In conclusion, Geoff Read welcomed the newcomers to Synod, Revd. Kate Gibson from Lugano, Revd. Anne Lowen from Basel, Revd. Maree Wilson from Geneva and in her absence Revd. Julia Chambeyron from La Côte.

Many thanks to Vevey All Saints for their generous hospitality.

The business part of synod closed and members attended Eucharist and lunch

Afternoon Session

Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC)
Mrs. Sonia Barron, Adviser, Zahida Mallard, Revd. Simon Pothen

The team explained the background, purpose and aims of this committee, which in the UK deals mainly with the problems of integrating Asian and black Anglicans into the existing structure of the Anglican church. This is often a long and slow procedure, as these people need much encouragement to involve themselves in local church life and the white population needs encouragement to accept them. Not enough is done to use the talents which may lie hidden and especially young people could be encouraged to take more part in church life.

The Anglican churches in our diocese are made up of minorities - confessional, nationalities and ethnic. Do we always do enough to embrace everyone? There were many questions and comments, showing that this is a subject which concerns us all.

02/02/2007 - MK