Ruth Gledhill reports in As Lambeth beckons, Anglican rebels don’t know if they are coming or going that:
A Nigerian bishop has broken ranks to fly to Britain to attend next week’s Lambeth conference. More than a dozen other Nigerian bishops have telephoned the organisers privately to say that they wish they could come but dare not disobey their archbishop, who has ordered all his 100 bishops to stay away in protest at the liberalisation of the Western Church.
The Right Rev Cyril Okorocha, the Bishop of Owerri, will defy Dr Peter Akinola, the Nigerian primate, when he arrives at his host parish in Oxshott, Surrey, this weekend. He will be the only Nigerian bishop at the Lambeth conference when it opens on Wednesday.
A source close to the bishop, who used to be on the staff at Lambeth Palace, where he looked after mission, said that he was coming because he believed strongly in the unity of the Anglican Communion.
Martin Beckford writes in the Telegraph: Anglican Communion: More than one in four bishops to boycott Lambeth Conference, and says this about English bishops:
As The Sunday Telegraph disclosed last month, the Bishops of Rochester, Lewes and Willesden are boycotting Lambeth because pro-gay bishops will be there.
But following the controversial decision of the Church of England’s ruling body this week to ordain women as bishops without compromise measures, several Anglo-Catholic bishops may also stay away.
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, who is likely to become the first English bishop to convert to the Roman Catholic church over female bishops, has said he is unlikely to attend while the Bishop of Richborough is still considering whether he can go.
The Bishop of Europe, the Rt Rev Geoffrey Rowell, said he would attend but could not take part in a Eucharist service held by the female head of the Episcopal Church of the USA, the Most Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori.
He added that he was “astonished” that so little information about events at Lambeth had been given out so far.
“We know the themes for each day and that we shall be in study groups of eight, but not much else.”
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Nicholas Reade, added: “I too am very surprised that we have had little more than a sketchy outline. I’ve never been to a conference before where we have had such little information.”
The Times also has a series of comments from individual bishops printed under the headline In search of the wisdom between the extremes.
13 CommentsNew Vision has published this “clarification” of the earlier article:
Gays not after Orombi’s head
Kampala
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi yesterday clarified that he did not say gays were planning to kill him or that he fears for his life over his campaign against the practice. This followed reports that the bishop had told Christians at Kitunga in Ntungamo district that he feared for his life over his anti-gay stance. Orombi noted that gays were not only in the church, but were a big movement and some of them were drug addicts, who could kill anybody.
The Daily Monitor reports Archbishop Orombi re-affirms anti-gay stand by Paul Aruho
Bushenyi
The Archbishop of Uganda has rallied Christians to stand by him in his fight against homosexuality in the Anglican Church. He said his life was under threat from the gay community.
“The team of homosexuals is very rich, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, “They have money and will do whatever it takes to make sure that this vice penetrates Africa. We have to stand out and say no to them.”
Archbishop Orombi, on a week-long tour of the western region said the advocates of homosexuality, a crime under the Uganda code act, are taking advantage of the abject poverty in Africa to lure people into their club.“As a Church, we want to worship the living God; we want to obey God and we have to submit ourselves to God so you pray for us; we shall remain faithful to God,” Archbishop Orombi said.
Homosexuality has been a sticky issue in the Anglican Church lately, with the climax happening last week when the Church of Uganda and other Anglican provinces in Africa, South America and Australia formed a new movement which is not under the authority of Canterbury at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.
The conference criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for failing to discipline the errant Episcopal Church of the US and the Anglican Church of Canada, which promote same-sex marriages. The two churches supported the consecration of a homosexual, Gene Robinson, as bishop in 2003.
Meanwhile, New Vision also reports this: Bishop Ssenyonjo invited to Lambeth but see comment below which contradicts this.
17 CommentsThe full reports of General Synod debates in this week’s newspaper are subscriber-only until next week.
The following news reports by Bill Bowder are available:
Will Catholics stay? The answer is in code
And, there is a leader column: Not the time for hasty reactions:
2 CommentsTHERE ARE, of course, no women bishops in the Church of England; nor will there be for several years. This means that there is a long time in which to reflect on the outcome of Monday’s vote in the General Synod. It is clear that the mind of the majority in Synod was against introducing a legally separate body for those unable to accept the ministry of women bishops, and who is to say that this does not reflect the mind of the Church at large? Apart from the wish to represent generally the view of those in the pews, it is probable that last week’s talks of splits relating to the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) made the Synod even warier than it might formerly have been of anything that looked as if it encouraged formal division. At issue now is whether the manner in which women bishops will be introduced will lead to just such a division in any case…
The Economist weighs in with When compromise fails.
Time magazine has Could the Pope Aid an Anglican Split?
The New Statesman has Doing the splits by Stephen Bates:
…Like Mr Rochester’s first wife, the misogyny and homophobia of its factions keep leaping out of the attic to scare off decent folk. No use conservative evangelicals and high church Anglo-Catholics insisting the Church’s interminable internal rows are all about obedience to scriptural authority and the protection of tender consciences. What the public sees is arcane debates, conducted with a ferocity more in keeping with the 1980s Labour Party than an institution founded on hope and charity…
The Spectator has A Very English Coup — And The End Of Our National Church by Theo Hobson.
The Telegraph has a report by Martin Beckford saying that US Anglican leader Katherine Jefferts Schori wades into women bishop row.
Andrew Carey wrote for the Church of England Newspaper a column (republished at Stand Firm) titled Walking on Broken Glass:
…Observers reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury was visibly discomfited at times by the tone and direction of the debate. His deputy in Canterbury, the Bishop of Dover, Stephen Venner, was reduced to tears. Yet while Dr Williams has often given traditionalists hope that he would back a structural solution to their problems of conscience, he seems to have completely ruled out strong leadership on theological and ecclesial issues. Wearing permanently now, it seems, the persona of the mediator, Dr Williams was seen by Synod trying to have it both ways. “I am deeply unhappy with any scheme… which ends up structurally humiliating women.” But he was equally unhappy about marginalising traditionalists. He therefore came “not very comfortably to the conclusion”, we needed a “more rather than less robust form of structural provision”…
Ruth Gledhill asks Will Rome really take our trads?
41 CommentsNew Vision reports that Gays want to kill me, says Orombi. The article is copied below in full.
Update There is a further article in New Vision which shows that Orombi is not alone in his views, see Canterbury should not tolerate gayism.
Gays want to kill me, says Orombi
Wednesday, 9th July, 2008
By Chris Ahimbisibwe
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi yesterday said he fears for his life because of the campaign he has waged against homosexuals.
“Nowadays, I don’t wear my collar when I am in countries which have supporters of homosexuals,” he said while addressing Christians at Kitunga archdeaconry, West Ankole diocese in Ntungamo district.
“I am forced to dress like a civilian because those people are dangerous. They can harm anybody who is against them. Some of them are killers. They want to close the mouth of anybody who is against them.”
Orombi is among the Anglican archbishops who have led the boycott against the Lambeth Conference, which takes places later this month, over the issue of homosexuality.
The Global Anglican Future Conference, which was held in Jerusalem last month, resolved to form a new movement and broke ties with the authority of Canterbury over the consecration of gay bishops.
Despite the threats, Orombi yesterday continued his anti-gay campaign, asking Christians to pray for him and others who are against homosexuals.
“Homosexuals are agitating that it is a human right. But how can it be a human right for a man to sleep with another man or a woman to marry a woman?” he asked.
“What we need is to wake up and protect our church and children against this practice.”
He argued that God created men and women so that they could have children and fill the world so that the generations could continue. “So where do the homosexuals want to get their children?” he asked.
Orombi noted that homosexuals were trying to take advantage of Africa’s poverty by making donations, building schools and offering scholarships.
“We should not accept any donation that comes our way and has strings attached. Some people have already fallen victims in Uganda and we need to stop it,” the archbishop said.
Bishop Yona Katonene, the bishop of West Ankole diocese, who accompanied the archbishop, said he had received a report that a male teacher in Bushenyi had married a male student.
54 CommentsUpdated Friday
There was a third article, Ex-Anglicans will bring new life to our Church by Damian Thompson
The Catholic Herald has published two articles.
A news report by Anna Arco is titled Bishop to lead flock to Rome after synod vote:
A senior traditionalist Anglican bishop has urged the Pope and the hierarchy of England and Wales to help Anglo-Catholics convert to Rome following the General Synod’s vote to ordain women bishops.
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, called for “magnanimous gestures from our Catholic friends, especially from the Holy Father, who well understand our longing for unity and from the hierarchy in England and Wales” as he prepares to lead his flock to Rome in the aftermath of the Church of England’s General Synod.
“Most of all we ask for ways that allow us to bring our folk with us,” he wrote in an article explaining his position in The Catholic Herald…
Bishop Andrew Burnham has written ‘Anglo-Catholics must now decide’:
34 CommentsSo we are to have a code of practice. Traditional Anglo-Catholics must now decide whether to stay in the Church of England in what, for a while, will be a protected colony – where the sacramental ministry of women bishops and priests is neither acknowledged nor received – or to leave.
Leaving isn’t quite so easy as it sounds. You don’t become a Catholic, for instance, because of what is wrong with another denomination or faith. You become a Catholic because you accept that the Catholic Church is what she says she is and the Catholic faith is what it says it is. In short, some Anglo-Catholics will stay and others will go. It is quite easy to think of unworthy reasons for staying – and there are no doubt one or two unworthy reasons for leaving.
There are also honourable reasons for staying. Like the Anglican clergy who wouldn’t swear allegiance to William and Mary at the end of the 17th century and the Catholic clergy who wouldn’t swear allegiance to the French Revolutionary government a century later, the “non-jurors” of the present day will soldier on and die out but they will be faithful to what they have believed and history will honour them for their faithfulness…
Inclusive Church has issued a press release, The vote for women bishops. A copy of the text is also below the fold.
WATCH has issued a press release. The text appears below.
10 CommentsWATCH Press Statement
WOMEN BISHOPS: A STEP CLOSER
9th July 2008 – for immediate releaseThe Church of England has been debating whether women should be ordained as deacons, priests and bishops for nearly 100 years, and today marks the beginning of what we hope is the 26th and final mile in the marathon of discussions and debates since then.
Yesterday the Church agreed to drawing up legislation for women bishops and also for a code of practice with arrangements for those who in conscience cannot accept the Episcopal ministry of a woman.
After 6¼ hours of debate, the House of Bishops Motion was passed by a substantial majority in all three houses. The Legislative Drafting Group for Women Bishops will now work on the legislation and on the contents of the code of practice, which will be debated in General Synod in February 2009.
In spite of the recent statement from the Vatican that Synod’s vote created new obstacles to unity between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, two facts remain: Rome’s official stance is still non-recognition of all Anglican orders, male and female, and the Anglican Church has had women bishops for the last 20 years. The question remains as to why the vote presents a fresh obstacle?
WATCH welcomes the outcome of the vote and rejoices that women will soon takes their place alongside men as bishops in the Church of England.
WATCH Chair and member of General Synod, Christina Rees said, “This is good news for the whole Church and for the nation we serve. Women will soon be able to bring their experience and gifts to the Episcopal leadership of our Church. We rejoice that God has led the Church to this moment.”
During the debate, Robert Key MP said that the people of England are making a judgment on us; a reference to how detached the church has become from the rest of society through refusing to make women bishops. The Bishop of Bath and Wells stressed that we need to trust each other and not have legislation.
Earlier this year, over 1,300 clergywomen signed a statement which was sent to all bishops in the Church of England, declaring that they wished the Church to proceed on a basis of trust and not law: that arrangements for those opposed to women bishops should be managed by the local diocesan bishop, be they male or female as is the case in the fifteen provinces which have already agreed to consecrate women to the episcopate. If such arrangements were enshrined in law then their response would be “thanks but no thanks”. It is to be hoped that the Statutory National Code of Practice requested by General Synod will reflect these concerns.
Contacts:
Christina Rees Chair, WATCH
Hilary Cotton Co-Vice Chair, WATCH
Updated Thursday evening
ENS has also published a news article about this, see PITTSBURGH: Parish wants court-appointed monitor to oversee possession, use of diocesan property by Mary Frances Schjonberg.
Lionel Deimel reports from Pittsburgh in an article titled Calvary’s Cavalry Again Rides to the Rescue:
As the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh heads toward a “realignment” vote on October 4, 2008, when Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan plans to declare the entire diocese removed from The Episcopal Church to become a diocese of the province of the Southern Cone, loyal Episcopalians in Pittsburgh are becoming increasingly anxious about the looming apocalypse. Yesterday, however, they were given some reason to cheer, as Calvary Church attorney Walter P. DeForest rode to court on his white horse to file papers with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. Calvary is petitioning the court to appoint a “monitor to inventory and oversee property held or administered by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to assure compliance with this court’s order of October 14, 2005,” as well as to request “creation of an additional escrow account(s)” for parishes concerned about the use of their funds by the diocese for the benefit of a church other than The Episcopal Church…
The legal filing for this case is available as a PDF here.
And there is additional background from 2006 here.
9 CommentsGeorge Pitcher in the Telegraph Women win bloody battle at the Synod
Giles Fraser in the New Statesman Ending women free zones
Simon Barrow Church as Spectacle
24 CommentsLeading articles appear this morning in several London newspapers.
The Times has The Church of England: A Vote for Clarity
The Telegraph has A Church divided
The Guardian has Speaking for England
1 CommentForward in Faith has two items: General Synod Vote – Initial Reaction
Forward in Faith and the Catholic Group in General Synod note with regret that, despite the clear advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Exeter and other Bishops, the Prolocutor of the Province of Canterbury and the Chairman of the House of Laity and the obvious lack of consensus, the General Synod today resolved to make no meaningful provision for those in conscience unable to receive the ministry of women bishops.
There must now be a period of prayerful reflection. However, members of both the General Synod and of the Church of England will understand that actions always have consequences.
and General Synod vote – further reaction
The consistent behaviour of the General Synod compels Forward in Faith and the Catholic Group in General Synod to recognise that, without intervention by the House of Bishops, there is little prospect of gaining a synodical majority which would provide a structural solution that would meet the needs of those who, out of obedience to scripture and tradition, are unable in conscience to receive the ordination of women to the episcopate. We will in the coming days continue to explore all possible avenues which might secure our corporate ecclesial future and look to our bishops to facilitate this.
Vatican Radio has Vatican Regret at Anglican Vote to Ordain Female Bishops.
WATCH has this:
Synod votes in favour of women as bishops, with a Code of Practice
We are delighted that General Synod after many hours of debate, voted to proceed to the consecration of women as bishops with arrangements for those who will not accept their ministry simply in a Code of Practice. This was the stance proposed by the House of Bishops and supported by WATCH, and in the final voting there were clear majorities in each House in favour of taking this step. The voting figures were:
Bishops: 28 for, 12 against, 1 abs
Clergy: 124 for, 44 against, 4 abs
Laity: 111 for, 68 against, 2 abs
The Legislative Drafting Group will now prepare the relevant legislation, along with a Code of Practice, to be brought to the next meeting of General Synod in February next year.
Reform has a statement Reform predicts Synod vote will “further rouse the ‘sleeping giant’ of evangelical Anglicanism”
Reform members who took part in the Synod debates are very disappointed that no legal provision has been made for those who cannot in conscience receive oversight from a female bishop. We note that the opinions of four out of the five most senior bishops on both the content and timing of this measure were swept aside in the course of the debate.
We will scrutinise the proposed code of practice in February’s debate carefully, but remain very sceptical as to its usefulness.
By giving no legal provision Synod has effectively said: “We don’t want people like you in our Church of England.” This message will no doubt further rouse the ‘sleeping giant’ of orthodox and evangelical Anglicanism in the UK and around the globe.
Interfax reports Russian Church alarmed by Anglicans’ decision to ordain women.
Update A further Interfax report has Anglican Church decision to consecrate women-bishops challenges Orthodox-Anglican dialogue – Bishop Hilarion.
The official report of business conducted today is found at General Synod – Summary of Business Conducted on Tuesday 8th July 2008.
0 CommentsUpdated to add link to article by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes
Reports
Riazat Butt in The Guardian Church vote opens door to female bishops
Martin Beckford in the Telegraph Church of England set to split over women bishops
Jennifer Gold in Christian Today Church of England votes to ordain women bishops
Jerome Taylor in The Independent Church risks split as Synod votes to ordain women bishops
Steve Doughty in the Mail Church of England faces clergy revolt after paving way for first woman bishop by 2014
The Press Association Church turmoil over women bishops
Ekklesia Church of England makes historic decision for women bishops
John F Burns in the International Herald Tribune As schism lurks, the Church of England endorses women as bishops
The Age [Melbourne] Anglicans vote in favour of women bishops
Stephanie Kennedy in ABC News [Australia] Anglican Synod votes to allow female bishops
Comments
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes in The Guardian There will be women bishops
Andrew Brown in The Guardian Super-bishops fly in
Damian Thompson in the Telegraph The Church of England is Protestant again
53 CommentsFor the final form of the motion before Synod and the voting figures see the end of this article
Synod began its main debate on women bishops at 2.30 pm today.
The Order Paper is here
I have copied this below, but have amended it to include the votes in synod as they took place.
Note: Where a vote is taken by houses, the motion must be carried in all three houses to be carried.
The Bishop of Gloucester moved:
20. ‘That this Synod:
(a) reaffirm its wish for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
(b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
(c) affirm that these should be contained in a national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and
(d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.’
The Bishop of Winchester moved as an amendment:
66. After “That this Synod” leave out paragraph (a) and insert:
“(a) anticipating the ordination of women to the episcopate in the Church of England, and noting the Manchester Group’s assertion in paragraph 22 of GS 1685 that “far and away the most important question that the Church of England now has to face is the extent to which it wishes to continue to accommodate the breadth of theological views on this issue that it currently encompasses”,
(i) affirm the assurances included in paragraphs 67-69 of GS 1685;
(ii) reaffirm (GS 1685 paragraph 74) Resolution III.2 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference “that those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate are both loyal Anglicans”;
In paragraph (b) leave out “within the existing structures of the Church of England”; and
In paragraph (c) after “in” insert “legislation and in”.
Amendment 66 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
14
|
31
|
0
|
| clergy |
62
|
120
|
0
|
| laity |
78
|
114
|
0
|
The Revd Prebendary David Houlding (London) moved as an amendment:
67. Leave out paragraph (a) and insert:
“(a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate”.
Amendment 67 was carried after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
28
|
17
|
0
|
| clergy |
90
|
89
|
4
|
| laity |
97
|
85
|
7
|
The Revd Stephen Trott (Peterborough) moved as an amendment:
68. Leave out paragraphs (b) and (c) and in paragraph (d) leave out “, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice,”.
Amendment 68 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
3
|
40
|
2
|
| clergy |
28
|
149
|
4
|
| laity |
36
|
147
|
5
|
The Revd Miranda Threlfall-Holmes (Universities, York) moved as an amendment:
69. In paragraph (b) leave out all the words after “affirm its view that” and insert “this should be done with the simplest possible statutory approach, with local diocesan arrangements for pastoral provision and sacramental care;”;
Leave out paragraph (c); and
In paragraph (d) leave out “, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice,”.
Amendment 69 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
7
|
37
|
1
|
| clergy |
66
|
107
|
9
|
| laity |
68
|
118
|
4
|
The Revd Canon Simon Killwick (Manchester) moved as an amendment:
70. In paragraph (b) leave out “the existing structures of”;
In paragraph (c) leave out “national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard” and insert “Measure”; and
In paragraph (d) leave out “accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice,” and insert “by preparing a draft Measure and associated code of practice providing new dioceses for those who cannot in conscience receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests,” and after the words “so that” insert the words “, if possible,”.
Amendment 70 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
10
|
32
|
3
|
| clergy |
53
|
124
|
4
|
| laity |
71
|
116
|
2
|
The Bishop of Exeter moved as an amendment:
71. In paragraph (b) leave out “the existing structures of”;
In paragraph (c) leave out “national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard” and insert “Measure”; and
In paragraph (d) leave out all the words after “accordingly” and insert “by preparing drafts of possible legislation in accordance with paragraph (c), to include further draft Measures, together with associated codes of practice, based on diocesan structures for those who cannot in conscience receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests, so that, if possible, the Business Committee can include consideration of these options in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.”.
Amendment 71 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
14
|
29
|
2
|
| clergy |
65
|
116
|
1
|
| laity |
77
|
112
|
0
|
The Bishop of Ripon and Leeds moved as an amendment:
72. In paragraph (c) after the words “affirm that these should be” insert “either by way of statutory transfer of specified responsibilities or”; and
In paragraph (d) leave out “complete” and insert “develop” and leave out the words “first consideration of the draft legislation” and insert “further consideration of both alternatives envisaged in paragraph (c) ”.
Amendment 72 was lost after a vote by houses (since it was defeated in one house).
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
21
|
21
|
1
|
| clergy |
84
|
92
|
2
|
| laity |
98
|
87
|
0
|
At this point (6.30 pm) Synod broke for its dinner break. The session will resume at 8.00 pm
[Miss Emma Forward (Exeter) did not move her amendment so it was not considered:
73. In paragraph (b) leave out “special”.]
The Revd Gillian Henwood (York) moved an amendment:
74. Insert after paragraph (b):
“(..) affirm its view that special arrangements should be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction wish to exercise or receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests in episcopal areas where the bishop has stated that he is not able to ordain women;”.
Amendment 74 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
5
|
31
|
3
|
| clergy |
68
|
85
|
20
|
| laity |
82
|
90
|
7
|
Canon Dr Christina Baxter (Southwell and Nottingham) moved as an amendment:
75. After paragraph (c) insert as a new paragraph:
“(..) require that the Measure enabling women to be admitted to the episcopate should require:
(i) that the Measure should only come into force once the code has been agreed;
(ii) that in order for the code of practice to come into effect, it must receive the approval of the General Synod with a two-thirds majority in each House; and
(iii) that any future changes to the code can only be made by the General Synod with a two-thirds majority in each House;”.
Amendment 75 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
15
|
19
|
5
|
| clergy |
86
|
78
|
8
|
| laity |
81
|
88
|
10
|
Ms Jacqueline Humphreys (Bristol) moved as an amendment:
76. In paragraph (c) insert “statutory” before the words “national code of practice”.
Amendment 76 was carried on a show of hands.
the Revd Canon Robert Cotton (Guildford) moved as an amendment:
77. Insert as a new paragraph after paragraph (c):
“(..) agree that the code of practice should relate only to the exercise of episcopal functions and describe a commitment to mutual support and cooperation between members of the House of Bishops to help with pastoral provision and sacramental care when situations arise affecting those with conscientious difficulties relating to ordination to the priesthood and the episcopate; and”.
Amendment 77 was lost after a vote by houses.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
1
|
35
|
4
|
| clergy |
38
|
129
|
5
|
| laity |
44
|
129
|
7
|
His Honour Thomas Coningsby QC (ex officio) moved as an amendment:
78. In paragraph (c) leave out all the words after “national code of practice” and insert “which all concerned would be required to follow”.
Amendment 78 was lost on a show of hands.
The Bishop of Durham moved that the debate be adjourned. This motion was lost with 180 votes in favour, 203 against and 9 abstentions.
Final form of the substantive motion
As a result of the two successful amendments (67 and 76) the final form of the substantive motion became:
That this Synod:
(a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
(b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
(c) affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and
(d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.
After a vote by houses the substantive motion was carried.
Voting figures
|
for
|
against
|
abstentions
|
|
| bishops |
28
|
12
|
1
|
| clergy |
124
|
44
|
4
|
| laity |
111
|
68
|
2
|
Here is the official report of Sunday’s business at General Synod.
General Synod – Summary of Business Conducted on Monday 7th July 2008
It is being updated during the day and will include links to audio of each session.
0 CommentsThree recent items from Fulcrum
Further Thoughts on GAFCON and related matters by the Bishop of Durham, Dr Tom Wright
The GAFCON Movement and The Anglican Communion by Andrew Goddard
A briefing paper for PCCs. It is “against the resolution suggested on the Anglican Mainstream site: ‘We stand in solidarity with the Jerusalem Declaration and Statement on the Global Anglican Future’”
An interview on ABC Sydney with Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, the primate of Australia
This is reported in The Sydney Morning Herald as Aspinall warns Jensen.
General Synod will be debating Women Bishops later today. The debate was orginally scheduled for this afternoon, but because of the large number of proposed amendments it will now continue into the evening.
The order paper for this debate is online here and copied below the fold.
0 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury preached at the 10 am Eucharist at York Minster yesterday. The service was attended by most members of General Synod as well as by the regular minster congregation. The text of the Archbishop’s sermon is now online here.
3 CommentsThe Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Alan Harper, spoke to the USPG conference last week on Holy Scripture and the Law of God in Contemporary Anglicanism in the Light of Richard Hooker’s “Lawes”. His address is online here and here.
Ruth Gledhill in the Times Archbishop of Armagh invokes scripture in defence of homosexuality
BBC We may allow gay unions: COI head
David Young and Alf McCreary in the Belfast Telegraph Church of Ireland may accept gay marriages
Belfast News Letter C of I may accept gay marriage – Harper
6 Commentsupdated at lunchtime
A mixture of articles looking forward to the debate on women bishops later today and back to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon yesterday.
Riazat Butt in The Guardian Church of England to consider introducing ‘super-bishops’ to avert crisis over women
Martin Beckford in the Telegraph Anglican Church may create ‘super bishops’ to avoid splitting and
Church of England to debate women bishops
Ruth Gledhill in the Times Day of reckoning for Anglicans amid split over women bishops
Steve Doughty at the Mail Church of England plans male ‘superbishops’ for rebel clergy who refuse to be led by women
Alastair Beach in The Independent Anglican rebels ‘in Vatican meeting’
BBC Jesus ‘would feel Anglican pain’
BBC Synod set for women bishops vote
Jonathan Wynne-Jones in the Telegraph Dr Rowan Williams stands tall in the Church
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