What we talk about when we talk about class: discourse about the working class in the Church of England General Synod 2018–2022

ABSTRACT

The Church of England struggles to talk clearly about class. This article examines discourse in the Church of England General Synod to consider both the language and themes which appear when middle-class Anglicans discuss class. It is an attempt to ‘turn the gaze’ on the powerful who allude to class whilst rarely using explicit language, preferring instead to talk about ‘the poor’, ‘disadvantaged’ and ‘deprived’. The article analyses why euphemistic reference to class are a problem, using Synod as an example. It explores three recurring themes – good news stories, leadership and church history – arguing that when these themes occur the working classes are largely presented as homogenous, lacking in agency and in need of a heroic church. The article argues that a theologically robust vision is necessary for the dismantling of classism in the Church. It outlines some promising theological starting points taken from General Synod and recent theological work by working-class theologians.

KEYWORDS:

• Working class
• class
• General Synod
• Church of England
• mission
• theological education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For work which does centre working class voices see Cowan (2022), Larner (2023) and Jagger and Fry (2023).

2 Minutes for February 2021 not taken and for July 2022 unpublished at time of writing.

3 I am grateful to Ruth Harley for helping me think through this issue.

4 See Aldous et al. (2022) and Stone (2023).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Tyndall

Rebecca Tyndall is a doctoral student at Durham university, based in Middlesbrough. Her doctoral research is into the experiences and lived theologies of working-class women clergy in the Church of England. She is a research assistant for the Living Ministry focussed study on working-class clergy wellbeing. Alongside her research she is the primary carer to two primary school aged children.