I had a great time at General Synod on Wednesday. Apart from meeting various people it was absolutely fascinating just to watch the general goings-on. I was there as a guest of a future client, and whilst I wasn’t directly doing any drawing I did make plenty of notes. The diagram above is a raw sketch (unlike my normal highly-polished diagrams).

One of the excitements of this particular Synod was the introduction of new electronic voting devices which I imagine are a bit like the ones they use on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ and other such shows. On Monday the Synod was given training and some practice votes were held. Alasdair Cutting, whose Synod blog has lots of synodical happenings, has blogged about it:

A practise vote was set up on Monday - a ‘vote of the whole house’ that ‘This synod ask the Business Committee to acknowledge Valentine’s Day’ was passed by a significant majority of the whole Synod.

However a following motion, a ‘vote by houses’, that ‘Valentine’s Day be celebrated by each bishop buying chocolates for their diocesan representatives at Synod’, was passed by both of the lower houses, but the House of Bishops voted it down. Because ‘votes by houses’ require a majority in each house to be passed, it meant that bishops were let off the hook from buying their diocesan representatives chocolate for Valentine’s Day. But, woe betide any bishops who do not…!

Meanwhile, whilst I was observing I wa also being observed. Peter Ould, who was watching my every involuntary movement:

Finally, a big thank you to Dave Walker, who (even if you didn’t realise it) entertained me by being sat across the gallery from me and moving his head in slight motions every so often. I know you’re concentrating hard on cartoons and the like Dave, but you ain’t half amusing when you get a good idea!!!

Thanks Peter. I had no idea I did that, but now when I need an idea I will move my head in slight motions and see what happens.