General Synod has just voted to adjourn its debate on final approval of the legislation to allow women to be bishops. The vote was 288 in favour of the adjournment and 144 against with 15 recorded abstentions. The measure will now go back to the House of Bishops, and return to General Synod at a later group of sessions.
In more detail, immediately after the motion
That the Measure entitled “Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure” be finally approved.
was moved by the Bishop of Manchester, the Bishop of Dover proposed an adjournment to allow the House of Bishops to reconsider their amendment to clause 5:
That the debate be now adjourned to enable the new clause 5(1)(c) inserted by the House of Bishops into the draft Measure entitled “Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure” to be reconsidered by the House of Bishops.
It was this latter motion that was carried.
Exactly 2/3 for, 1/3 against. Hope this doesn’t reflect the mood for/against women as bishops
2/3 : 1/3 It does seem quite close to the assumed ratio of supporters to opponents in General Synod. So it may well be that opponents of women bishops thought the amended measure wouldn’t be passed.
I listened to the debate today via the Premier Radio live feed and there seemed to be quite a strong suggestion that the House of Bishops were inclined to stand by the amendment and would use the time to explain it better so more Synod members agreed with it.
“Exactly 2/3 for, 1/3 against”
288 For – 144 Against
If that does reflect the mood for/against women as bishops – then the 15 Abstentions will be crucial – if they decide to vote either for or against in November.
It is more nuanced than that. In November the legislation will be voted on in houses and need 2/3 majority in each house. At present we do not know how this morning’s vote would have broken down by houses but it is a fair bet that the majority was not equal in all 3 houses. So it may well be that the legislation is considerably short of 2/3 in one house and over that in another. If that is so, it is going to fall!
Archbishop Rowan gave a most reasoned and reasonable defence of the amendments in his address to Synod. After such a sterling explanation as to why the House of Bishops passed the amendments by an overwhelming majority it is difficult to see how they could possibly amend the amendments.
David – how do you know what he voting figures were in the House of Bishops?
You can read too much into these figures. Some female supporters of women bishops were strongly advocating not to further delay matters by voting for an adjournment but to vote for the amended legislation on Monday as planned, Some of the votes were therefore against the adjournment, not against the amended legislation.
Charles – how do I know what the voting figures were in the House of Bishops? I suggest that you ask Simon – as he seems remarkably well informed on this matter.
I was disappointed that ++Rowan’s response to the motion for adjournment was – admittedly dressed up in very well formed rhetoric – ‘I am sorry that some people have been upset by our very reasonable actions.’ From what he said, the only development he is contemplating before November is finding a way of better explaining the amendment so those of us who are opposed to its inclusion should understand it better. In other words, Father still knows best 🙁 It seems the House of Bishops are really not confident that General Synod will pass a non-discriminatory measure. Given the widespread… Read more »
In other words Father knows best.
Well, the Cof E is still supposed to be episcopally led, even if synodically governed.
Beware, you may vote for women bishops and end up abolishing them!
jason adderbury – There are of course many interpretations of what leadership means, but the model that we are urged to adopt in the C of E is collaborative – which is very much NOT a question of saying what should happen and then expecting everyone to fall into line. We are not conscripts but volunteers – even those employed by the C of E have the option of seeking alternative employment. So I’d be quite surprised if you could find many members of the House of Bishops who wanted to exercise that style of leadership, let alone felt it… Read more »