A Bishop in the Church of England is facing a rebellion because of his refusal both to ordain women and appoint a suffragan bishop who will.
The Telegraph reports:
On one side of the row is the Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, who has a black belt in judo and a staunch opponent of the ordination of women.
In the opposing corner is a growing group of clergy and worshippers in his diocese, who are dismayed by the bishop’s intransigence.
The Telegraph continues:
Bishop Hind has told his diocesan synod that when he appoints a new junior bishop, they will not be permitted to ordain women.
He has been bombarded with letters of protest against his stance, and faces a growing revolt. Behind closed doors, influential figures in the diocese are holding clandestine meetings to consider what action to take. Several of his priests have also already written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, believing that the bishop’s attitude discriminates against women.
One senior cleric in the diocese has accused the bishop of trying to establish a refuge for anti-women priests. He claimed that the decision to block the appointment of a new bishop who would ordain women was an attempt to create a haven for traditionalists opposed to female priests.
The report says that of its “393 parishes, only 65 have stated that they would not accept a woman as their incumbent “but that “among 308 paid clergy in the Chichester diocese, only 20 are women.”
Read it here and see Thinking Anglicans here for several other links.