LoudFence General Synod 2023 - postcard

This striking image by mixed media artist Catherine E. Holbrook documents the remarkable proceedings at the Church of England's General Synod 2023 wherein proceedings were brought to a halt in order that Synod could hear the two recently sacked (and only truly independent) members of the church's so-called Independent Safeguarding Board: Steve Reeves and Jasvinder Sanghera. The setting: the harsh lines and angles of the 1960s Grade II listed concrete Central Hall at the University of York depicted in the background on the left hand side of the picture. The Loudfence was the initiative by Antonia Sobocki and Survivor Activist Jane Chevous (who had spoken to Synod on behalf of Victims and Survivors of church abuse earlier that afternoon). Ribbons, messages, personal stories and prayers were tied to the railings outside the Central Hall as people stood shoulder to shoulder with victims and survivors and called for an end to the institutional abuse that currently passes for Safeguarding practice within the church. The image depicts the tangled chaos & political wranglings of the power struggle within Synod and the moment that independent voices that broke free from the archaic chains of Canon Law in an unprecendented series of events. By purchasing a print you will be helping to support victims and survivors of abuse within church settings.