“A Very Significant Improvement” in CofE Women Bishops Proposals

Up to now, I have been pessimistic about the prospects for an amicable resolution to the push for women bishops in the Church of England given a major faction (feminists) has no problem pushing another (traditionalists) out of the church.

But yesterday, Bishop Jonathan Baker, Chairman of Forward in Faith, issued a statement that gives some hope.  It begins:

The new draft legislation on Women in the Episcopate and the associated proposals in the Steering Committee’s report represent a very significant improvement on the former draft legislation which failed in November 2012.

He goes briefly into the improvements, then adds:

Though these proposals are still far from what we have long said would be ideal, we believe that they may have the potential to provide workable arrangements for the future, which will ensure that our people, clergy and parishes have continued access to a ministry that will enable us to flourish within the structures of the Church of England and make our full contribution to its life and mission. They hold out the possibility of bringing to a conclusion a process that for too long has been a distraction from the Church’s mission. Much will depend on the continuance of the atmosphere of trust that has at last begun to be fostered by the process that produced these proposals.

We therefore encourage the General Synod to send the legislation for revision in full Synod, so that the process may continue as expeditiously as possible.

Do read the whole statement for yourself.

And I invite those with more knowledge of the discussions than me to comment.  But really I could not have hoped for more at this point.  Women bishops in the Church of England are close to inevitable.  The main question is whether traditionalists will at the same time be given a tenable place.  And Bishop Jonathan, whom I know and highly respect, now seems reasonably hopeful of that prospect.

+Ebbsfleet on General Synod

Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, has a talent for telling it like it is yet with grace.  Having spent some time with him at Pusey House, he has long impressed me with his gentleness, wit, and perception.

So it comes as no surprise that his comments on General Synod and its aftermath are among the best I’ve come across.  I commend his whole missive to you.  But the following stands out to me as cutting through the fog to explain what really happened:

First, it has been suggested that the draft Measure represented the fruits of work done over many years by representatives of all traditions in the Church of England, and that it was a compromise and the best possible way forward. This is simply not the case, as anyone – myself included – involved in the various processes of preparing the legislation for Final Approval (the legislative drafting group, the revision committee stage, and so on) would have to admit. At every step of the way, provision for the traditionalist minority was withdrawn altogether or significantly watered down. Looking back, we can see a number of decisive forks in the road: when delegation (rather than a transfer of jurisdiction) was adopted as the basis for the legislation; when the Archbishops' amendment for co-ordinate jurisdiction was defeated – by just 5 votes in the House of Clergy – in 2010; when the amendment to Clause 5.1. (c) of the Measure, proposed by the House of Bishops, was withdrawn in the face of pressure from members of WATCH in July of this year. In the light of all this, it seems to me that there is only one analysis of the vote on 20th November which rings true: that the draft Measure was driven 'over the cliff' by those unwilling to agree proper provision for those of us who have conscientious difficulties concerning the ordination of women.

Exactly.  +Ebbsfleet says it much more graciously than I have, but, indeed, WATCH and their ilk have only themselves to blame for the failure of women bishops legislation.  If they only had the grace to give traditionalists the space they needed, women bishops would already be on the way.