Following a 12 hour debate, the General Synod has voted to reject the compromise deal over women bishops offered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr Rowan Williams had suggested that a new tier of male only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists who oppose coming under the authority of women bishops.
The debate on women bishops will now go to individual dioceses for further discussion before returning to the synod for final approval some time in 2012. In its final stages the legislation would require a two-thirds majority in each of the three Houses of the General Synod; the bishops, clergy and laity. If approved, the first women bishops could be appointed in 2014.
Dr Rowan Williams admitted that it will now be ‘desperately difficult’ to keep the Church of England unified in light of the vote. Being aware of the disappointment among traditionalists, he appealed to liberal members to be ‘generous’ and accept some sort of arrangement for conscientious objectors who are opposed to female leadership.
Forward in Faith, a conservative group that opposes the ordination of women said that the vote ‘contains nothing which can satisfy the legitimate needs’ of its members.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, expressed his disappointment with the decision:
‘It is difficult to say in what way we are now a communion. Bitterness, hostility, misunderstanding and strife now separate provinces from one another and divide individual provinces.’
Despite their defeat, some traditionalists believe that they can influence the final vote in 2012 by securing greater representation in the forthcoming synod election. Conservative group ‘Reform’ have confirmed that they will vote against the legislation when it returns to York regardless of the future synod's composition; it presently has clergy making up a third of its 1,500 members.