As the dust settles on CoE Synod…

Thinking Anglicans has a roundup of the latest news and commentary on the vote for women to serve as bishops in the Church of England. The process still has years to conclude whether or not women will ever be bishops in the CoE.


Clergy who are opposed worry about their future regardless of the choice they make: will they find a new position, what about the loss of their pensions and housing? will Rome be a place of welcome? Those who support women in the episcopacy are dismayed at the length of time until it might happen: will the CoE be just another anachronistic sect left in the dust of history?

The timeline for the process – thanks to Chris Hansen in CoE:

First, each Diocesan Synod (there are more than 40 dioceses in the Church of England, including Sodor and Man but not Wales or Scotland, of course) must debate and vote on the issue. Two-thirds of the diocesan synods must approve it.

Second, when that hurdle is cleared (which is expected to happen) the matter will go back to General Synod, where it will finally have to be approved by 2/3rds majorities in each house (Bishops, Clergy, and Laity). There are two spanners (as they say) in the works: first, General Synod elections happen in September/October this year. The anti-woman party will exert maximum effort to elect members who are opposed to woman bishops. Second, the majorities for passing the question to Diocesan Synods were less than 2/3rds in most cases in the current Synod. It is possible that the question will fall at the second hurdle. What would happen then is anyone’s guess. If the anti-women bishops forces go over to Rome now, they will not be able to influence this vote. So, there may not be be an exodus until this vote has been won by proponents of women in the episcopacy.

Third, as with any General Synod bill, it passes to Parliament for approval before being approved in the name of the Queen and promulged to the Dioceses. At that point, the legislation comes into effect.

There was an effort when woman deacons and priests were approved to block the legislation in Parliament. It did not succeed under that Conservative government and most would be surprised if it succeeded under the current Coalition government of Tories and Liberal Democrats. Most Church legislation is nodded through according friends in England.

The process described above will immediately begin and continue through 2010 and 2011. The final Synod vote will probably come in 2012, followed close on by submission to Parliament if Synod finally approves it. This will be dealt with in 2012, and if approved, will probably come into force in 2013 or 2014. The first woman bishops will probably be suffragans and not consecrated until 2014 at the earliest.

UPDATE: Last session reported by Church of England here

Correction: Only half the Diocesan Synods need to approve it, and each by simple majorities. Some may vote by House (you need 10 members to stand and request a vote by Houses) but most will just vote by majority of those present.

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