There is a reason they put Parliamentary TV on in the middle of the night. Only the hardest-of-hard-core political junkies watch live webcasting of the Commonwealth Parliament and its Committees. Much that happens in Parliament is dull, dull, dull. Long tedious poring over the minutia of amendments, acts, regulations. Debates on procedural motions that need rulings from the Speaker. Most of us never see this. Instead we see the door stop interviews, the carefully crafted Question Time sound bite, the commentators piece to camera after hours of debate.

What has this got to do with our Synod? Well sometimes Synod can feel more than a teensy bit dull too. Today was a case in point. Some of us backbenchers were suffering Synod Fatigue on Day 4.

That is not to say it isn’t important. Plenty today was – centralizing the support of Tertiary ministry, hearing about the protection of Religious Freedom (more of that tomorrow), procedures to prevent bullying in the Parishes, and more.

But none of it produced the wonderful debates Synod is capable of. No soaring oratory. No great moments of tension wondering which way a debate would swing. And that’s O.K. Just like our national parliament (although without the partisan spirit) there are days that you just need to grind through, knowing that down the track the work of Synod will be of service.

If you stop for just a minute to consider the sheer volume of the legislation the Synod considers, you get a small insight for how much work goes on in Synod’s Committees, in the Secretariat, in the work that individual members put in. All those bits of paper are drafted by someone. It may be hard work for us to keep concentrating on them, but how much harder to draft them!

The market for live webcasting of Synod may be a miniscule one – the public gallery usually has enough spare seats! But don’t be deceived. Even the dullest day can produce legislation with far reaching consequences for our life together.