{"id":1122,"date":"2012-11-20T15:09:33","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T22:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2012-11-20T15:12:09","modified_gmt":"2012-11-20T22:12:09","slug":"anglican-church-votes-to-reject-women-as-bishops-detonating-its-credibility-critics-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/11\/anglican-church-votes-to-reject-women-as-bishops-detonating-its-credibility-critics-say.html","title":{"rendered":"Anglican Church Votes to Reject Women as Bishops, “Detonating its Credibility” Critics Say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m absolutely shocked by this decision out of the U.K. \u2013 the Church of England has rejected a measure that would finally allow women to serve in the role of bishop within the Anglican church. Interestingly the Bishops themselves were overwhelmingly in favor of it. The House of Bishops voted 44 in favor, three against. The House of the Clergy also ratified the measure, 148 in favor with 45 against. It was the house of the laity (stacked with a united block of\u00a0Anglo-Catholics), that voted it down: 132 in favor and 74 against, just six votes shy of the number needed for ratification. Here\u2019s an article excerpt from the BBC<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The general synod of the Church of England has voted narrowly against the appointment of women as bishops.
\nThe measure was passed by the synod\u2019s houses of bishops and clergy but was rejected by the House of Laity.
\nSupporters vowed to continue their campaign but it will be five years before a similar vote can be held.
\nControversy had centred on the provisions for parishes opposed to women bishops to request supervision by a stand-in male bishop.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bigger consensus\u2019<\/strong>
\nThe outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spoke of his \u201cdeep personal sadness\u201d after the vote.
\nHe said: \u201cOf course I hoped and prayed that this particular business would be at another stage before I left, and\u2026 it is a personal sadness, a deep personal sadness that that is not the case.\u00a0\u201cI can only wish the synod and the archbishop all good things and every blessing with resolving this in the shortest possible time.\u201d\u00a0Both the archbishop and his successor, the Rt Rev Justin Welby, were in favour of a \u201cyes\u201d vote.<\/p>\n

Canon Simon Killwick, vicar of Christ Church, Moss Side, and leader of the Catholic group in the synod, who spoke against the move, said the legislation was \u201cflawed\u201d.\u00a0He said it would be possible for the issue to return during the lifetime of the present synod if there were \u201cearly talks held between the various parties and a real effort to build a bigger consensus\u201d.
\nTwenty years after the introduction of women priests, the issue has continued to divide traditionalists \u2013 among those on the Church\u2019s evangelical and Anglo-Catholic wings \u2013 from reformers.\u00a0Had the motion been backed by the synod, the proposed legislation would have made its way through Parliament before receiving royal assent.\u00a0It needed two-thirds majorities in each of the synod\u2019s three houses.\u00a0The votes were 44 for and three against with two abstentions in the House of Bishops, 148 for and 45 against in the House of Clergy, and 132 for and 74 against in the House of Laity.\u00a0The vote in the House of Laity, at 64%, was just short of the required majority \u2013 six more \u201cyes\u201d votes were needed.<\/p>\n

The decision came at the end of a day of debate by supporters and opponents \u2013 and a 12-year legislative process. The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, said: \u201cIt is very disappointing that the vote was lost so narrowly.\u201d\u00a0Campaign group Watch said the outcome was a \u201cdevastating blow for the Church of England and the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Rev Rachel Weir, chairwoman of Watch, said \u201cThis is a tragic day for the Church of England after so many years of debate and after all our attempts at compromise.\u00a0\u201cDespite this disappointing setback, Watch will continue to campaign for the full acceptance of women\u2019s gifts of leadership in the Church\u2019s life.\u201d\u00a0Watch said bishops would need to act promptly to offer pastoral support in the coming weeks to women clergy and others who felt devastated by decision.<\/p>\n

Writing in the Guardian, Lucy Winkett, who would have been in line to become a woman bishop, said the synod was \u201cdetonating its credibility with contemporary Britain\u201d.\u00a0But synod member Susie Leafe said the outcome was because of faults in the legislation.\u00a0She said: \u201cThere were a lot of places along the way that we could have had a measure in front of us that wouldn\u2019t have been voted down, and it\u2019s very sad that this was able to go on without us facing the reality of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Catholic Group in General Synod said \u201cmediation and conciliation are needed so that new legislation can be framed to provide fairly for all members of the Church of England\u201d.\u00a0The group said in a statement: \u201cWe regret the synod was put in the position whereby draft legislation failed at final approval because it was unclear and unfair in its provision for those who, in conscience, are unable to accept the ministry of women as bishops or priests.\u00a0\u201cThe Catholic Group calls on the House of Bishops to reconvene the talks started in the summer between representatives of different groups, chaired by Bishop Justin Welby.\u00a0\u201cThe Catholic Group is committed to playing a full part in the process of achieving good legislation to enable us all to move forward together in mission and service to the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionalist campaign group Together 4ward said: \u201cWe are reflecting on and praying about the outcome of general synod, and will make a fuller statement in due course.\u00a0\u201cWe are, however, pleased that synod has chosen not to pass the Women Bishops Measure in its current form, which we believe would not have allowed the Church to go forward together.\u201d\u00a0The vote at the Church House in central London came after several speakers opposed the legislation.
\nThe House of Bishops will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning following the decision, a Church spokesman said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m absolutely shocked by this decision out of the U.K. \u2013 the Church of England has rejected a measure that would finally allow women to serve in the role of bishop within the Anglican church. Interestingly the Bishops themselves were overwhelmingly in favor of it. The House of Bishops voted 44 in favor, three against. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[205,175,173,208],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-of-england","tag-justin-welby","tag-rowan-williams","tag-women-in-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\nAnglican Church Votes to Reject Women as Bishops, "Detonating its Credibility" Critics Say<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm absolutely shocked by this decision out of the U.K. - the Church of England has rejected a measure that would finally allow women to serve in the role\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/11\/anglican-church-votes-to-reject-women-as-bishops-detonating-its-credibility-critics-say.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anglican Church Votes to Reject Women as Bishops, "Detonating its Credibility" Critics Say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I'm absolutely shocked by this decision out of the U.K. - 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