Archbishop, Synod Lay Members, Parliament …

Will there be women bishops in the Church of England? 

There is — to use the English word — a row over this one. The confusion is that there to be three church polities bouncing into one another: Constantinian governmental power, episcopal authority embodied in the Archbishop, and congregational voting and representation. Perhaps a bit of a balancing of powers, but the first voice has already made it clear where things will go. Not a bright day for church governance, though I support women bishops. [Too bad the author of the article resorts to calling conservatives “fanatical.” That term works in two directions.]

Opinion polls, and voting in the dioceses, show an overwhelming majority of the Church of England are in favour of women bishops. But the lay members of the synod are elected through a committee process which favours the old and the fanatical and has given a disproportionate strength to the conservative evangelicals who believe the Bible forbids women to exercise authority over men.

If the legislation passes the General Synod, parliament will rapidly approve it and it will become law in November. The first women bishops are likely to be appointed around Christmas, ending twenty years of wrangling that followed the ordination of women as priests.

The stakes are high. After the 2012 vote Tony Baldry MP, who is the Church’s liaison officer with parliament, warned that any further failure would not be tolerated. Parliament would step in to legislate for women bishops whether the synod wanted it or not.

Such a move would destabilise the rickety balance of the establishment: the general synod was invented to allow the Church of England a form of self-government while ensuring that parliament maintained ultimate control of the established church. The convention is that the synod makes laws which parliament must either reject or accept but may not amend.

Unofficial polling of the synod’s lay members suggests the measure will gain the 2/3 majority it needs by four or six votes.

A spokesman for the Archbishop said “We are concentrating on getting the vote through. It would not be helpful to speculate further.”