May 18, 2010

The House of Bishops of the Church of England has issued a statement in support of a committee report and draft legislation that could pave the way for women to be consecrated as bishops.

The legislation – and its accompanying 142-page report – will be debated at the next session of General Synod, the church's main governing body, when it meets in July.

The bishops, whose statement was issued at the conclusion of their May 17-18 meeting in York, noted that the forthcoming meeting of General Synod would be a key moment in the legislative process when all 470 members will have the opportunity to debate the report and proceed to a clause-by-clause consideration of the draft measure and amending canon.

A measure is a piece of legislation that, once passed by the General Synod, requires approval by the British Parliament.

The bishops said that the synod will be helped in its task "by the clarity and thoroughness of the committee's analysis," noting that "as previous debates have shown, a majority of the members of the House strongly support the admission of women to the episcopate. At the same time there remains a strong commitment on the part of the House to preserve an honored place within the Church of England for those unable to receive this development. There continues to be a variety of views within the House over the best way of achieving that, while enabling women fully to exercise their new ministry."

General Synod voted in February 2009 to send a draft measure on women bishops to a revision committee so it could rework the legislation.

That draft measure had two principal objectives: "to give the General Synod power to make provision by canon allowing women to be consecrated as bishops; and to set out the legal framework for the arrangements to be made for parishes which, on grounds of theological conviction, feel unable to receive the ministry of women."

The bishops' May 18 release said that the July sessions have "the potential to be one of the most demanding meetings of the synod for many years. It will, in the view of the House, be an occasion when all concerned will need to listen with particular care to those with views that differ from their own and to acknowledge the passion and sincerity with which those views are held."

Assuming all stages of the legislative process proceed without delay, "it will be at least another two years before the mind of the Church of England can be determined at the final approval stage," the bishops said. Since the measure also would require parliamentary approval, the first woman bishop could not be consecrated until at least 2014.

The House of Bishops said it "is aware that there are those who believe that the present legislative process does not have the potential to lead to a satisfactory conclusion and that a better outcome is more likely to be achieved in some years' time. Most members of the House consider, however, that it is crucial to keep faith with the present process. They see no grounds for believing that the issues with which the church is grappling will become significantly easier to resolve with the passage of time."

The report of the revision committee was published on May 8 and is available at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr4210.html.

Episcopal News Service