Appoint women as bishops now, says MP

Hull North MP Diana Johnson said the church should “serve the people of today and tomorrow” rather than being held back by “some of yesterday’s people”.

A final vote on creating female bishops is due in the summer after intense debate within the church, with the possibility that the first could be ordained in 2014.

Speaking in a Westminster debate, Ms Johnson said: “The Church of England is a broad church, and we want it to go forward as a broad church. I certainly want it to be relevant to the society we live in.

“I want it to promote faith, decency and good work in the wider community. It is obviously important to respect its past, but we should not live in the past; we should look to how the church can develop and serve the needs of the community now.

“We need to serve the people of today and tomorrow, but we are perhaps being held back a little by some of yesterday’s people. A broad church should not be held back by narrow interests, and there is now broad support for the measure to go through all its stages. I hope we will see the first woman bishop very soon.”

Some traditionalists in the church oppose women bishops because they believe the bible requires male “headship” in the church and in the family.

A vote will now take place in the summer after a compromise bid was rejected at the General Synod earlier this month.

A spokesman for the Church Commissioners said: “We now have women in leadership roles throughout the Church of England in every position other than as bishops. There are now as many women as there are men coming forward to be ordained as priests.

“I hope that I will be present when the archbishops consecrate the first woman bishop within the Church of England.”

He said it was right for the church to have taken its time over an issue over which many had “genuine concern”.