General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada - Composition and Responsibilities

Composition and Responsibilities

Except in special instances when it may be called into session by the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada or the Council of General Synod, the General Synod meets triennially at locations across Canada. The Synod next meets in 2013 in Ottawa, Ontario. Other recent locales for General Synod have been:

• 2010: Halifax, Nova Scotia
• 2007: Winnipeg, Manitoba
• 2004: St. Catharines, Ontario
• 2001: Waterloo, Ontario
• 1998: Montreal, Quebec
• 1995: Ottawa, Ontario

The General Synod is composed of three Orders: Bishops, Clergy, and Laity. All bishops and archbishops of the ACC are delegates to General Synod; clergy and lay delegates are elected as representatives from each of the church's thirty dioceses, as well as the Canadian Forces. Unlike the Church of England or the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Orders are not divided into Houses which meet separately according to different rules of order. Nonetheless, voting may be done by Orders with respect to certain issues, under which conditions a given Resolution would need to be approved in all three.

The General Synod is responsible for articulating the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Anglican Church of Canada. During its regular meetings, which generally span a week to nine days, members exchange information, set policy for the church, pass resolutions, and enact and amend canon law. Presently, there are twenty-one numbered canons, dealing with issues as prosaic as the name of the church, to ones touching on doctrine, such as matrimony and Holy Orders, to judicial disciplinary proceedings.