Church ‘looking into abyss’ over women bishops

If the vote goes in favour of making the changes, it could mean the first women bishops taking up positions within the Church of England within the next two years.

Members of the bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of England’s national assembly, the General Synod, voted to send the legislation for further discussion on Monday amid continuing divisions between liberals and traditionalists over the plans.

Earlier, Dr Rowan Williams had urged clergy and bishops from the Canterbury Diocese to approve the legislation in order for it to be debated further on Monday.

He warned that defeat at this stage would mean the legislation could not return for debate until a new General Synod had been elected in 2015.

“We are looking into the abyss now,” he warned.

“Like the majority of members of the synod, and the majority of the members of the Church of England, I am very firmly of the view that we need to proceed as speedily as we can to resolve this question because I, like most of you, long to see women bishops in the Church of England,” he said.

“I also long for there to be the kind of provision for those who continue to have theological reservations on this subject, for their position to be secured in such a way that they can feel grateful for the outcome as others do.”

The vote at York University came as the General Synod was urged by pro-women campaigners to adjourn the final approval debate on Monday over last-minute changes to the legislation made by the Church of England bishops.

Senior female clergy have asked the bishops to reconsider an amendment which would mean male bishops chosen to minister to traditionalists held the same views on women clergy as objectors.

Pro-women campaigners have claimed this would enshrine discrimination against women in law, allowing traditionalists to demand a class of “pedigree” male bishops who have not been “tainted” by having ordained a woman as a priest.

A number of speakers at the General Synod said final approval of the legislation should be adjourned to allow the bishops to reconsider the amendment.

Tim Allen, a lay member of the General Synod from Suffolk, said: “Let’s not be mealy mouthed about this. The fact of the matter is that the bishops have dropped a spanner into the works.

“To be fair, the bishops did this not as mere Luddites but as well-intentioned but clumsy and short-sighted engineers seeking to make an adjustment to ensure the passage of the measure.”

Others urged the General Synod to vote the legislation down.

Susannah Leafe, from Fowey, in the Truro Diocese, said: “This measure has become the very definition of a dog’s dinner.

“It has been chewed over and regurgitated so many times that it has lost any of the attraction that it once had.”

Other members of the General Synod urged members to press on and vote to give the legislation final approval on Monday.

Stephen Barney, from Leicester, said: “Women bishops, I believe, will be a good thing, and we must have them now despite the compromises we have enumerated many times already.

“Therefore I believe we should vote for the measure before us today and against any adjournment motion on Monday.”

The legislation will need a two-thirds majority in all three Houses of the General Synod, of clergy, laity and bishops, if it is to get final approval.

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