THE General Synod has voted to send the draft women-bishops Measure back to the House of Bishops, and not to vote on final approval until November. An adjournment motion, moved by the Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Trevor Willmott, was carried by a two-thirds majority, after about two and a half hours of debate. […]
Category: News
Bishop warns of austerity’s ‘social consequences’
THE BISHOP of Bath & Wells, the Rt Revd Peter Price, has warned that the country faces more episodes of violent disorder similar to that which hit the nation in August last year. In an address to the General Synod on Sunday afternoon, Bishop Price warned that the Government’s austerity measures had social consequences, which […]
Steering committee seeks to adjourn women bishops debate
A GROUP of senior Church of England officials have announced that they intend to ask the General Synod to postpone tomorrow’s historic vote to allow women to be bishops, so that last minute amendments made to the draft legislation by the House of Bishops could be re-considered. If Synod approves, the earliest they would be […]
Ban on clergy in racist groups approved
The General Synod moved a step closer to banning clergy from membership of groups such as the British National Party (BNP) when it gave final approval to the Clergy Discipline (Amendment) Measure this afternoon. The Measure doesn’t itself proscribe membership of the BNP, but gives the House of Bishops power to declare, by a two-thirds […]
Convocations and laity say preliminary yes to women bishops
THE General Synod will debate women bishops on Monday, after the House of Laity and the Convocations of Canterbury and York voted to approve the draft legislation this afternoon. While the language of the motion before Synod members today was whether or not they approved of the legislation, many speakers indicated they were voting in […]
Wakefield Diocese calls for theological debate about Church of England structure
The Wakefield diocesan synod has called for a “theologically informed debate” about the “organisational structures of the Church of England”, amid concern at the processes being followed by the Dioceses Commission. Opening a debate at last week’s meeting of the synod in Halifax, the Bishop of Pontefract, the Rt Revd Tony Robinson, emphasised that the […]
Wedding-hours change will not apply to the Church of England
A relaxation of the law that places a restriction on the hours when marriages may be solemnised does not apply to wedding services in the Church of England, lawyers from Church House said this week. They warned that conducting a marriage outside the permitted hours “would amount to an ecclesiastical offence for the purposes of […]
Wakefield concerned about West Yorkshire reorganisation
THE Dioceses Commission has announced that it will continue with a scheme to reorganise three Yorkshire dioceses, producing a detailed proposal in the autumn. One of the three, the diocese of Wakefield, argued that the three dioceses should remain independent. An earlier draft of the Commission’s scheme proposed the dissolution of the dioceses of Wakefield, Ripon & Leeds, and […]
Survey backs traditionalists
A SURVEY carried out by Christian Research on behalf of Forward in Faith suggests that more than 69 per cent of Anglicans want to see women bishops “as soon as possible” or “within the next five to ten years”. Of the remaining 31 per cent, half want to see a consensus among all other Churches […]
Praise for clerics’ input during riots
THE violent disturbances that broke out in many English cities in August 2011 “made unprecedented demands on clergy, their staff, and the networks they were involved in”, is the finding of a new report, published by the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council. The report Testing the Bridges, which seeks to understand the role […]