The Diocesan Synod due to take place tomorrow has been cancelled, due to issues linked to coronavirus.
Diocesan Secretary, Debbie Child explained the difficult decision to postpone its presentations and debates until June:
“In the light of the current Corvid-19 pandemic and the current Church of England guidelines and advice, the Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance meeting and the Leeds Diocesan Synod meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 14 2020 at Cloth Hall Court, Quebec Street, Leeds are cancelled.
“We have spent a considerable amount of time this week trying to mitigate risk for the event so that it can go ahead.
“However, we are not able to provide additional hygiene precautions such as hand gel sanitizers and refreshments would be self-service only.”
“We feel on balance this does not meet the duty of care we have to the clergy and lay people attending and particularly as they may be going home to minister to potentially vulnerable people,” Debbie said.
“The items on the Agendas for both meetings will be addressed at the June 13 2020 Synod, which will be a longer Synod to accommodate the extra agenda items and company meeting.
“I hope you will understand that this has been a difficult decision to make and no doubt you will be making similarly difficult decisions too as we all seek to meet the challenges of the current situation,” Debbie said.
The full Church of England guidance to parishes on Coronavirus, written by Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England’s Adviser on health issues, and drawing on the latest Government advice, is available on a dedicated web page and is being updated as necessary.