Updated
The General Synod of the Church of England, meeting in York, is going to debate and perhaps decide today to move forward with allowing women to serve in the episcopate.
Thinking Anglicans has the outline of the day plus the motions with amendments to be considered here. The debate will begin this afternoon and move into this evening, which will mean by mid-afternoon on the east coast of the US, we should know the outcome.
The BBC has this brief summary of the issues here:
The Church of England’s ruling body, the General Synod, will vote later on the conditions under which women could be consecrated as bishops.
The York meeting will decide whether to accommodate opponents to women bishops and if they could opt to remain under the ministry of male bishops instead.
But women in the Church have said such a move would institutionalise division. Some 1,300 clergy have threatened to leave the Church if safeguards are not agreed to reassure traditionalists.
They made the threat in a letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, but critics say many of the signatories are retired rather than serving clergy.
The amendments appear to focus on three possible scenarios: passing the legislation with no accommodation for traditionalists, passing it with the only accommodation being a code of conduct, and allowing women bishops but with one “Super” non-geographical male Bishop who would care for those who cannot accept a woman in apostolic authority.
Conservative bishops are said to have been in “secret” conversation with the Vatican about the ‘liberal’ drift in the Church of England. The Church of England is mum on the subject. With the close relationship between Archbishop Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict XVI, it is hard to know what to make of these rumors.
Members of parliament have made it known that they would like the Church of England to make a positive move. Westminster Whispers, a blog that talks about the political goings-on in England, says that Robert Key, Conservative MP for Salisbury, is present at General Synod and pushing hard for the inclusion of women into the episcopate. According to the blog, that he would seek a Parliamentary veto should a compromise (such as a “super” bishop for traditionalists) be approved.
The Independent on Sunday reports:
Amid fears that the Church might fail to reach a resolution on this occasion in order to avoid a confrontation, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, said that it was crucial that delegates came to a unanimous decision quickly.
“We are aware of those who argue that now is not the right time, that there are too many other difficult issues around, that the balance of arithmetic within the Church may be different in a few years’ time,” said the the bishop. “But the fact is, of course, that any legislative process is going to take several years to complete even if we take the first steps now.”
He added: “I think the one thing that we would all be sad about would be if this synod on Monday simply were to kick the whole thing into touch.”
At the same time, the Daily Mail online reports that
Three senior bishops – the Bishops of Chester, Blackburn and Europe – have written a separate private letter to Dr Williams arguing that ‘clearly the ordination of women as bishops would divide the Church even more fundamentally than the ordination of women as priests’.
Another summary of the issues surrounding todays debate and possible vote is provided by the Guardian here.
EpiScope has a good summary of the news coverage so far here.
Updated July 7, 2008 2:30 pm (EDT):
Thinking Anglicans is following the debate and the votes on each amendment here.
4:50 pm (EDT):
Ruth Gledhill has been live blogging the debate.
5 pm (EDT)
Final form of the proposal from Thinking Anglicans:
As a result of the two successful amendments the final form of the substantive motion became.
That this Synod:
(a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
(b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
(c) affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and
(d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.
Notice that the motion doesn’t authorize the ordination of women to the episcopate immediately, but directs the legislative drafting group to work according to the guidelines contained in this motion.