Two questions were asked at General Synod on Monday which were answered by the Bishop of Guildford. The full list of all Questions is available here (PDF).
53. Miss Prudence Dailey (Oxford) to ask the Chairman of the Council for Christian Unity:
Q. Has consideration been given to whether the Church of England is in full and unimpaired communion with Bishop Mark Lawrence and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina?
54. Mrs Lorna Ashworth (Chichester) to ask the Chairman of the Council for Christian Unity:
Q. Following the recent issue of a Certificate of Abandonment of the Episcopal Church in relation to the Rt Revd Mark J Lawrence, Bishop of South Carolina, and recognising that Bishop Lawrence has been one of the declining number of theologically conservative bishops who has sought to remain and to keep his people within TEC, in the light of paragraph 6 in the statement offered to the Synod in GS Misc 2011 by the Archbishops, are there any plans to consider proposing to the Synod fuller recognition of the Anglican Church in North America than has been considered to be appropriate up to this point.
The Bishop of Guildford’s answer (transcribed from audio recording available here)
25 CommentsWith your permission sir, I will answer this and Mrs Ashworth’s question together.
The withdrawal from The Episcopal Church of most of the clergy and people of several dioceses, led by their bishops, after diocesan convention decisions, is a development novel in kind as well as in scale. Our North American sisters and brothers have been often involved in a litigious and sometimes acrimonious debate. We should try to remain on good terms with all parties and avoid inflaming matters further. Our response should be deliberate, and not hasty.
As the Archbishops noted in GS Misc 1011, the creation of the Anglican Church in North America raises questions of recognition of orders – ministry – as well as a relationship of communion. The former question is in some respects simpler, because the considerations are more objective, and it is also the more pressing, by reason of requests for transfer. Nevertheless there are some matters that require clarification before any decisions can be taken.
Clergy ordained in several churches with which we are not, or not yet, in communion are seeking permission to minister in the Church of England. The Council for Christian Unity has therefore established a small group to offer advice to the Archbishops through the Faith and Order Commission on the relevant issues. The question about the Anglican Church in North America’s orders (whether it is a church and whether its orders are such, whether they such that we can recognize) will be addressed in that context. This will necessarily involve direct ‘engagement with the Anglican Church in North America’ which was envisaged in the Archbishops General Synod miscellaneous paper that I have referred to, GS Misc 1011, and that will be the context for subsequent exploration of relationships between our churches.
On Saturday, a Special Diocesan Convention endorsed the South Carolina withdrawal from The Episcopal Church. The Bishop has stated that their position would be to remain within the Anglican Communion as an extra-provincial Diocese. The Episcopal Church on the other hand maintains that General Convention consent is necessary for any withdrawal. So the legal and indeed theological and ecclesiological position is extremely complicated. And it is absolutely not certain.
It has therefore not been possible to consider the consequences for our relationships at this immediate stage. And, in my view, any statement just at this point would be premature.
Updated Tuesday morning
Guardian Lizzy Davies Church of England prepares for vote on female bishops
Telegraph John Bingham General Synod: arcane procedures mask passions running high
and Church warned over women bishops
Emma Barnett Women bishops: refuseniks have run out of excuses
Peter Stanford Women bishops: judgment day, at last
Mail Online Church of England to hold final vote tomorrow on whether to approve a law to allow women bishops
Update
BBC Women bishops: Church of England synod to vote
Guardian Editorial Let bulwarks be bishops: women in the Church of England
Guardian Natalie Hanman Should women be bishops?
1 CommentHere’s a brief, official summary of today’s opening day of Synod: General Synod: Summary of business on Monday 19 November 2012.
Audio files of the session are available here.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has published a speech he made today: Archbishop heralds “another model of Church life coming to birth”.
0 CommentsOver a thousand clergy of the Church of England have signed an open letter to The Independent urging the General Synod to vote in favour of women bishops in Tuesday’s ballot. The letter, with a complete list of signatories, is here: Open Letter: The Biblical case for women bishops.
Daniel Goddard, Gerard Brand, Jonathan Brown and Kunal Dutta write about the letter in the Independent: Clergy demand women bishops ahead of General Synod.
The Telegraph also reports on the letter: Church of England General Synod: women bishop vote in balance as row looms.
There are other news items previewing the debate.
Telegraph John Bingham Top female cleric urges backing for ‘imperfect’ women bishops deal
BBC Michael Buchanan Church of England to vote on women bishops
5 CommentsUpdated Sunday night
There are several items this weekend about Tuesday’s debate and vote on women bishops.
Independent Emily Dugan Church of England poised to vote for women bishops
Telegraph John Bingham All eyes on ‘game-changer’ Welby as Church faces final showdown on women bishops
Telegraph Cole Moreton Ladies in waiting at the Church of England
Ruth Gledhill was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme this morning. The five minute interview starts 20 min 15 sec in from the start.
Update
Guardian Lizzy Davies Female bishops: history awaits at CofE General Synod vote
0 CommentsThe Church of England has issued the following advice about visiting General Synod. It will be particularly relevant for the debate on the women bishops legislation which is timetabled for both the morning and afternoon sessions next Tuesday.
Visiting General Synod
Arrangements have been announced for those wishing to visit general synod and observe its proceedings.
112 tickets will be available each day for the public gallery.
Tickets will be valid for either the morning session (9am-1pm) or afternoon session (2pm-7pm).
Those wishing to view for the whole day will need to obtain tickets for both sessions.
Tickets for the morning session will be available from 8.45 from the Deans Yard entrance to Church House.
Tickets for the afternoon session will be available from 1.45 from the same place.
Tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis. Those leaving the premises will be asked to return their tickets to allow others to enter.
In addition to tickets for the public gallery there will be a further 40 tickets available for the Abbey Room where a live feed of proceedings will be broadcast.
There will also be an opportunity to follow synod proceedings via twitter where the CofE comms account – amongst others – will be live tweeting proceedings. The hashtag being used for the whole session will be “#synod”
The proceedings will also be broadcast on a live audio feed available from the Church of England website.
The agenda for the synod is available here: http://bit.ly/WaeYTV
2 CommentsUpdated latest Friday afternoon
As next Tuesday’s debate and vote at General Synod approaches here are a few recent press articles.
Church Times Madeleine Davies As Synod vote nears, both sides slug it out online
Guardian Vicky Beeching How social media could swing the vote for women bishops
Ekklesia Simon Barrow Saying ‘yes’ to women bishops
Telegraph Riazat Butt Women bishops will have to accept discrimination to exist
Update The Church Mouse reports that Evangelical Women’s Group AWESOME back Women Bishops.
Church of England Newspaper Jody Stowell Yes2WomenBishops?
2 Commentsupdated again Thursday morning
The Chairs of Reform and the Catholic Group in General Synod have jointly published a printed booklet which has been sent to all synod members. It is available online as a PDF: Women Bishops Legislation Not Fit for Purpose.
Update and here is part 2: Yes 2 Women Bishops Part 2: The Right Measure at the Right Time
Church Society has published a video urging a vote against the Measure. See the associated press release here.
New articles continue to be posted at the website Replace the Measure.
Further material in the Church Times is mentioned in this news article: Synod women-bishops vote appears too close to call by Madeleine Davies.
Andrew Brown asked at Cif belief Female bishops vote: heading for a full dress fiasco?
26 CommentsAffirming Catholicism has published this Statement on the Measure to admit Women to the Episcopate to be debated at General Synod November 2012. It concludes:
…Affirming Catholicism recognises that this Measure represents a compromise by people on all sides of this debate. Many of those who support the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate would have preferred a Measure with fewer provisions for those who do not accept the sacramental ministry of women. Many of those who do not accept the sacramental ministry of women would have preferred more robust structures. Affirming Catholicism welcomes the fact, that unlike suggestions for a separate province or society for those who cannot in conscience accept the sacramental ministry of women, the Draft Measure preserves the parochial and diocesan structures of the Church of England, preventing the creation of parallel Church of England jurisdictions in the same place. And the voting in Diocesan Synods would suggest that the vast majority of their members also support this way forward.
Affirming Catholicism strongly affirms the basic assumptions upon which the Draft Measure is based and hopes that General Synod will now vote for the Measure, recognising that in doing so it is enacting the will of the Church of England.
The full text of the statement is reproduced below the fold.
2 CommentsUpdate text corrected on Monday at noon
Following consultation with its members WATCH (Women and the Church) issued the following press release this morning.
11 CommentsWATCH (WOMEN AND THE CHURCH)
PRESS RELEASE: November 5th 2012
For immediate releaseMajority of WATCH supporters want this Measure passed
WATCH (Women and the Church) has been consulting with members and supporters over the past few weeks to get a better sense of whether the draft legislation to allow women in the episcopate has the support of our constituency.
Immediately after the September meeting of the House of Bishops, our conversations revealed a very deep and passionate division between those who would continue to support the Measure and those who could not. It appears that over the past few weeks that position has changed.
Our recent consultation with members and others indicates three things:
1. That our supporters continue to have a number of reservations about the legislation: many expressed concern that by providing such generous provision for those opposed, we are storing up trouble for future years and risk entrenching a discriminatory culture that is deeply damaging to men, women and the health of the Church of England.
2. Despite these concerns, a significant majority of those who responded to our consultation would like to see this legislation pass Final Approval on 20th November: they think that the benefits of having women as bishops outweigh any risks inherent in the Measure.
3. There remains a strong minority view that this legislation is discriminatory and should therefore be opposed.
WATCH acknowledges that those with both views are sincere in their desire to see the full flourishing of women in the Church of England. We understand that individuals may feel compelled to vote in either direction on 20th November. However, the balance of opinion in our constituency is now firmly in favour of this legislation passing and we hope Synod members will take that into consideration in deciding which way to vote.
WATCH therefore welcomes the positive contributions of the Archbishop of Canterbury and others in seeking to persuade Synod members to support the legislation. We hope that other bishops will follow his strong lead. For details of Archbishop Rowan’s ‘Enough Waiting’ campaign please follow this link http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/.
We also commend the yes2womenbishops campaign initiated by the independent blogger Church Mouse to those who wish to see this legislation pass Final Approval on 20th November http://yes2womenbishops.blogspot.co.uk.
WATCH has worked tirelessly to ensure that the best possible legislation is presented to General Synod for Final Approval and will continue to engage with the legislative process beyond November whatever the result of the vote – especially in monitoring the development of the Code of Practice.
The Reverend Rachel Weir, Chair of WATCH said “What is on the table is the product of many years of consultation and detailed drafting work. Now is the time for Synod members to decide whether this legislation is a workable basis for going forward together. It is clear that the majority of WATCH supporters feel that, although not ideal, this package is ‘good enough’ – an acceptable next step on a continuing road towards a Church that fully values and celebrates the gifts of women.”
Another new website has been launched: YES 2 women bishops
An unofficial website promoting a YES vote in favour of women bishops in the November 2012 meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England
It describes itself thus:
This site was created by The Church Mouse. It is completely independent of the Church of England, and all organisations within it. Whilst it is supportive of Rowan Williams’s “Enough Waiting” campaign, it is entirely separate.
Yes 2 Women Bishops is not an organisation, and has no leadership or members. It is simply a place for Church members to make their voice heard on this crucial issue.
The principal contributors to this website are The Church Mouse, Rebecca Swinson, Jody Stowell, and Vicky Beeching.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has initiated a campaign to this end, called Enough Waiting.
This provides many of the arguments in favour of a YES vote on November 20th. We do not intend replay the arguments for and against on this site, but merely to provide a place for supporters of women bishops to voice that support in the run up to the November meeting of General Synod and to urge them to vote YES to women bishops.There are many ‘special interest groups’ who have been around for many years loudly voicing their positions. Groups representing particular wings and factions within the Church have made their views known and the arguments have been played out in agonising detail.
Yet there has been no attempt to let ordinary church members voice their opinions. Surveys have been clear that the vast majority (around 75-80%) of the Church, and the public at large, want women bishops. We now have a formula for allowing that to happen, whilst providing statutory and legally binding provision for alternative oversight for those who cannot accept women bishops.
This site does not intend to replay the arguments for and against. It is simply a place for those who have decided that they would like to General Synod to pass the legislation to allow women bishops in November to urge them to do so.
A press release has now been issued which is copied below the fold.
2 CommentsWomen Bishops and the Anglican Communion Covenant are not the only items of business at this month’s General Synod. There is also this diocesan synod motion from Southwell and Nottingham, which will be debated on the morning of Wednesday 21 November.
“That this Synod request that Canon B 12 and the Regulations taking effect under it be amended so that:
(a) the Holy Sacrament may be distributed by any authorized regular communicant (including children admitted to the Holy Communion under the Admission of Baptised Children to Holy Communion Regulations 2006);
(b) if the diocesan bishop agrees, the necessary authorization may be given in relation to any parish by the incumbent, priest in charge or (during a vacancy) rural dean; and
(c) no person shall be authorized to distribute the Holy Sacrament without the support of the parochial church council of the parish or, where the Holy Communion is celebrated in a school and the person concerned is a child, of the head teacher of the school.‟
There are background papers from the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham (GS 1881A) and the Secretary General (GS 1881B). It is clear from the first of these papers that the prime purpose of this motion is to allow (some) unconfirmed children to distribute holy communion.
David Pocklington of the Law & Religion UK blog has summarised these papers and added his own comments in this article: Children, Confirmation and Communion?
The full texts of the 2006 regulations and Canons B 12 and B 15A referred to above are available online.
11 CommentsAdmission of Baptised Children to Holy Communion Regulations 2006 are available here (Word document) and here (web page).
Canon B 12 Of the ministry of the Holy Communion
Canon B 15A Of the admission to Holy Communion
One of the General Synod papers issued today is GS 1708-09ZZZ which describes how the House of Bishops reconsidered clause 5(1)(c) in the women bishops legislation. It also includes the following legal advice on the meaning of the amendment to clause 5(1)(c) (which was the fourth one they considered) actually adopted by the House.
Legal advice given to the House of Bishops on the fourth of the proposed amendments to clause 5(1)(c)
1. The amendment would substitute the following for the present clause 5(1)(c):
“(c) the selection of male bishops and male priests in a manner which respects the grounds on which parochial church councils issue Letters of Request under section 3,”.
2. The effect of the amendment would not merely be to require that guidance be given on the issue of the selection of male bishops and male priests: like some of the other possible amendments, it would impose a requirement as to the end to which that guidance is directed – in this case, that the selection of male bishops and male priests be such as to respect the grounds on which PCCs issue Letters of Request under the Measure.
3. The effect of the use of the word ‘respect’ in that context is to require the Code of Practice to give guidance to the effect that, in selecting a male bishop or male priest, the person(s) making the selection would need to seek to address, or accommodate, the grounds on which a PCC has issued its Letter of Request. They could not simply fail to give effect to those grounds at all, even if they considered that there were cogent grounds for doing so.
4. The effect of the use of the word ‘respect’ in that regard can be helpfully contrasted with the effect of other expressions which have been canvassed in discussion of possible amendments:
5. The analysis set out above is reflected in the illustrative draft wording that has been produced to show what the Code of Practice might say about the selection of male bishops were this amendment to be made to the Measure: it states that “In making the selection of the bishop who is to exercise episcopal ministry by delegation the diocesan bishop should seek to accommodate [my emphasis] the parish’s concerns relating to holy orders and the exercise of ordained ministry of women so far as those matters are relevant to the grounds of theological conviction as to the consecration and ordination of women on which the PCC issued its Letter of Request.”
6. It would be open to the House, if it wished to do so, to include more detailed guidance in the Code as to what would be involved in order to ‘respect’ the grounds on which a PCC had issued its Letter of Request.
7. As to the use in the amendment of the word ‘grounds’, the grounds in question are those on which PCCs issue Letters of Request under clause 3 of the Measure – ie ‘grounds of theological conviction’. By necessary implication those grounds are limited to grounds as to the consecration or ordination of women. (It is implicit in clause 3 that, by allowing a parish to ask for a male bishop or priest, a PCC is allowed – and only allowed – to issue a Letter of Request on grounds of theological conviction as to the consecration or ordination of women.)
8. Thus the guidance required to be given by the amendment would have to be limited accordingly – that is, it would have to make it clear that the grounds which the selection of male bishops are to ‘respect’ were limited to grounds of theological conviction as to the consecration or ordination of women. The illustrative draft wording that has been produced to show what the Code of Practice might say about the selection of male bishops were this amendment to be made to the Measure reflects that position.
Stephen Slack
11th September 2012
Chief Legal Adviser
The Legal Office
Church House
Westminster
The papers sent to General Synod members today include GS Misc 1034: Consecration of Women to the Episcopate: Future Process. In it the Secretary General outlines what will happen after the debates next month on the legislation to allow women to be bishops; he considers both the cases of the Measure receiving final approval and being defeated. I have copied this below the fold.
The paper also includes a note, written by the Legal Office, of the stages required to bring the legislation into effect once it has received final approval from General Synod.
7 CommentsOnline copies of the papers for the November 2012 meeting of General Synod are now available online; they are listed below, with links and a note of the day they are scheduled for debate.
In addition a zip file of all papers is available; this also includes the first six notice papers and a list of recent appointments.
The Report of the Business Committee (GS 1878) includes a forecast of future business, and I have copied this below the fold.
The Church of England’s own list of papers is presented in agenda order.
GS 1708D – Draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure [Tuesday]
GS 1709C – Draft Amending Canon No.30 [Tuesday]
GS 1709E – Draft Petition for Her Majesty’s Royal Assent and Licence [Tuesday]
GS 1708-09ZZZ – Reconsideration of Clause 5(1)(c) by the House of Bishops
GS 1878 – Report by the Business Committee on the Article 8 Reference [Monday]
GS 1879 Agenda
GS 1880 – Report by the Business Committee [Monday]
GS 1881A – Diocesan Synod Motion: Amendment to Canon B12 and Regulations Note (from the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham) [Wednesday]
GS 1881B – Diocesan Synod Motion: Amendment to Canon B12 and Regulations Note (from the Secretary General [Wednesday]
GS 1882A – Private Member’s Motion: Living Wage (from Mr John Freeman) [Wednesday]
GS 1882B – Private Member’s Motion: Living Wage (from the Chair of the Mission and Public Affairs Council [Wednesday]
GS 1883 – Youth Unemployment plus I Am One in a Million leaflet [Wednesday]
GS 1884 – 47th Report of the Standing Orders Committee [Contingency Business]
Other papers
GS Misc 1034 – Consecration of Women to the Episcopate: Future Process
GS Misc 1036 – Archbishops’ Council Report since July 2012 Group of Sessions
0 CommentsThe usual pre-synod press release has been issued by the Church of England today, and is copied below. It provides a summary of the business to be transacted.
I will list in a separate article the available online papers.
Agenda for November 2012 General Synod
The General Synod of the Church of England meets in November for a three day meeting to discuss final stages of women bishops’ legislation, with an agenda that also includes the Anglican Communion, the Living Wage and youth unemployment.
The Synod will meet at Church House from 2.15 p.m. on Monday 19 November until 5.30 pm on Wednesday 21 November.
The Agenda provides for the Synod to deal with the final stages of the major legislative process designed to make it possible for women to be bishops in the Church of England while also making some provision for those who, for theological reasons, will not be able to receive their ministry. The Final Approval debates will take place on Tuesday 20 November, after a celebration of Holy Communion at which the Archbishop of Canterbury will preside and preach. The debates are expected to fill the rest of the morning and most, if not all, of the afternoon.
On Monday 19 November there will be a presentation about the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which is meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, from 27 October until 7 November, and developments in the life of the Anglican Communion generally. It will also include reflections on the process in other churches of the Communion with regard to the Anglican Communion Covenant. That presentation will be followed by a debate on the reference to the dioceses of the draft Act of Synod adopting the Anglican Communion Covenant. As a majority of diocese voted against adopting the draft legislation it cannot be presented for final approval.
On Wednesday 21 November the Synod will debate a motion from Southwell and Nottingham Diocese which calls for changes in the law to allow children who have been admitted to communion but are not yet confirmed to distribute the consecrated bread and wine at celebrations of Holy Communion.
A Private Member’s Motion from Mr John Freeman (Chester) will be proposed to affirm the Christian values inherent in the concept of the ‘Living Wage’ and strongly encourage all Church of England institutions to pay it.
The Synod will also be invited to decide to meet in November 2013 but not in February.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 21 November the Synod will consider recent research by the Church Urban Fund and the Frontier Youth Trust on youth unemployment and its long-term effects on those concerned. The Synod will be invited to commend church and community initiatives that provide training and other support.
This will be final occasion at which the Archbishop of Canterbury will preside, with the Archbishop of York, at a meeting of the General Synod. The final business for the group of sessions will be a motion, to be moved by the Archbishop of York, expressing the Synod’s gratitude to Dr Williams and offering him and Mrs Williams its best wishes for the future.
Communicating Synod
Parishioners can keep in touch with the General Synod while it meets. Background papers and other information will be posted on the Church of England website (www.churchofengland.org) ahead of the sessions.
A live feed will be available (accessible from front page www.churchofengland.org), and audio files of debates, along with updates on each day’s proceedings, will be posted during the sessions.
A new website has been launched. It describes itself thus:
Fair Measure 2012
Welcome to the Fair Measure 2012 blog.
On this website we will be posting a number of papers, links and comments about the Draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure which is due to be debated by the General Synod of the Church of England on 20 November 2012.
We will show that the Measure as it stands is not fit for purpose, because of its unjust treatment of significant minorities within the Church of England. It must be stopped before it damages the Church irreparably, and replaced with a new, fairer Measure which enables us all to go forward together.
The website can be found here: Replace the Measure where the following paragraph has been added:
59 CommentsContributors to this site include members of General Synod, and Anglicans from around the Church of England, who are united in their desire to hold together both those in favour and those opposed to the ordination and consecration of women.
Fulcrum has issued this: Fulcrum Statement on Women Bishops (ahead of the vote at the November, 2012 General Synod)
13 CommentsFulcrum fully supports women bishops and hopes that the Measure passes through the General Synod in November. We believe that this is the view of most evangelicals in the Church of England. We agree with CEEC that all members of General Synod must prayerfully consider the good of the whole church and vote with a clear conscience. We hope that all those who want women bishops will vote for the Measure. We further hope that those who are against will be able in good conscience to abstain, recognising that it is clearly the will of the Church to proceed, and then work with the provision, which is unlikely to be strengthened should the legislation fall this time.
Updated several times: latest 19 November
As part of his campaign to persuade General Synod members to back the new women bishops legislation when it returns to General Synod next month, the Archbishop of Canterbury has released video messages by Rebecca Swinson (the youngest member of the Archbishops’ Council) and Bishop of Chelmsford. The links include transcripts of the videos.
Update Another video – this time from the Bishop of Willesden
two more videos: Mark Russell and the Bishop of Worcester
another video: Bishop of Sheffield
and an audio recording from Janet Appleby
and another video: Jan McFarlane
and yet another video: Sam Follett
14 CommentsPRESS RELEASE from The Catholic Group in General Synod
23 CommentsWomen Bishops’ Legislation Not Fit for Purpose
The legislation is unfair, unstable and incoherent; it does not command consensus; there is a better way forward.
UNFAIR
1. There is no legally-binding provision for minorities; instead a Code of Practice is proposed, to which bishops would “have regard”. The only form of appeal against a bishop’s decision would be judicial review, which few parishes could afford.
2. Bishops provided for traditionalists would not have proper oversight as bishops; they would just be allowed to conduct services. There would be no guaranteed future supply of bishops for traditionalists.
3. There is no legal prohibition on discrimination against traditionalist candidates for ordination.
4. Traditionalists would become 2nd. class Anglicans served by 2nd. class bishops.
UNSTABLE
5. The Code of Practice cannot be decided until the legislation has become law. Supporters of the legislation have already stated that they will oppose any further provision being made for traditionalists in the Code of Practice. There would be more years of in-fighting before the Code was agreed.
6. The Code could be changed at any time, meaning that any provision it made for traditionalists could be campaigned against and whittled away over time.
7. The application of the Code would vary from one diocese to another – a postcode lottery.
INCOHERENT
8. The draft legislation would oblige male bishops to delegate certain functions to male bishops – a pointless exercise! It needs to be more specific and to provide for religious conviction.
9. The House of Bishops amendment stating that the Code of Practice shall give guidance as to the selection of delegated male bishops is not enough: (a) the details should be in the legislation itself; (b) the word ‘respects’ has no legal definition – meaning that the amendment is not prescriptive of the contents of the Code; the Code is therefore an unstable instrument.
LACK OF CONSENSUS
10. Major changes in Church order require a clear consensus; this is why legislation like this needs a two-thirds majority in each of the three Houses of the General Synod, in order to pass. At no stage in the process so far has this draft legislation achieved the required majorities in the Synod, meaning that there is no clear consensus. No real attempt has been made to reach consensus outside the formal synodical process.
11. Supporters of the legislation realise that there is not enough consensus, and are resorting to unprincipled attempts to pressurise those opposed to the legislation to abstain, rather than to vote against, as their consciences would dictate.
A BETTER WAY
12. A better way would be to follow the example of the Church in Wales, whose Governing Body rejected unsatisfactory legislation for women bishops, and is now looking at a new process with two linked pieces of legislation, one to provide for women to be made bishops, and the other to provide for traditionalists; the legislation for women bishops cannot come into force until the legislation providing for traditionalists has been passed. Such an approach would lead to the prayerful and reconciling dialogue the Church of England now needs in order to move forward.
ENDS
29th September 2012