Church facing crunch vote on new laws for women bishops

The General Synod will hold a series of votes in London tomorrow on women bishops which is billed as the most significant decision the 470-strong body has taken since it backed female priests 20 years ago. The legislation needs a two-thirds majority in all three houses of the synod – of bishops, clergy and laity – in order to gain final approval.

Commentators have said they believe it will clear the houses of bishops and clergy with the necessary majority, but the vote among lay members of the General Synod is thought to be on a “knife-edge”.

Among the women clergy who have been mentioned as possible contenders to break through the “stained glass ceiling” should backing be given is the Very Rev Vivienne Faull, 57, who was appointed as the Dean of York Minster in July.

Martin Dales, spokesman for the Catholic Group in the synod, which has about 80 members, said he believed the electronic voting system this time – compared with the use of the lobbies in 1992 – could make a difference.

Mr Dales, who lives in Old Malton in North Yorkshire, said: “The voting this time will be done on your own, with your own personal machine. It will not be until a fortnight afterwards that you will be able to see who has done what when the lists are published.”

A defeat for the legislation would be a serious blow to Dr Rowan Williams, the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, who has staked his authority on a “yes” vote. Dr Williams warned that failing to approve women bishops could lead to “a period of continued and perhaps intensified internal conflict”. His successor, the Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, has also urged the General Synod to vote for the legislation, saying he is “deeply committed” to the ordination of women to the episcopate.

If the legislation clears the final hurdle it will go for approval in Parliament before receiving Royal Assent, paving the way for the first women bishops in 2014.

A code of practice would also have to be drawn up outlining the arrangements to be made for traditionalists who do not accept the authority of a female bishop. If the legislation fails to clear the last hurdle it would take at least another five years before laws on women bishops could be considered for final approval before the General Synod.

The first women priests were ordained in 1994 and the Church gave its backing to the principle of female bishops in 2005 and 2006. The legislation has received the backing of 42 out of the 44 Church of England dioceses.

But the Church has struggled to reach a compromise between those campaigning in favour of women bishops and traditionalists threatening a walk-out over the issue. A final vote was postponed in July, with bishops asked to reconsider a last-minute amendment amid protests from pro-women campaigners. The amendment has been rewritten – and the debate is likely to centre on whether this is now acceptable to traditionalists.

Prebendary Rod Thomas, a vicar in Plymouth and the chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical grouping, has called for members to vote against.

He said: “We know that it is on a knife-edge – we think that, depending on which way the debate goes on the day, there could be enough people to stop the measure going through.”

But the Rev Rachel Weir, the chairwoman of campaigning group Watch (Women and the Church), added: “Some, from both sides, want to wait in the hope of getting something better, but to do so would be incredibly destructive.”