While Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939, it took until the following May for military operations to begin. “There is something phony about this war,” U.S. Sen. William E. Borah said, and ever since the prelude to the 1939-45 conflagration has been dubbed “the Phony War.”

In the matter of deciding whether women should be appointed as bishops, the Church of England is engaged in a process with all the hallmarks of a Phony War. People criticize the General Convention of the Episcopal Church because it appears to make momentous decisions on the basis of minimalist debates.

In contrast the Church of England moves at glacial speed, such is the minutiae involved in its decision-making processes. Having met this week and having spent a full day debating women in the episcopate, the General Synod is effectively in the same place it was in July 2010, 20 years on from when it approved ordaining women as priests.

In 2010 Synod set its face against a compromise put forward by the two Archbishops to provide legal protection to traditionalists who cannot accept women bishops. Since then a new Synod has been elected and this week a motion from the Diocese of Manchester gave Synod a chance to reconsider the key elements of the archbishops’ failed package.

It sought a compromise creating “co-ordinate” bishops, a move that probably would satisfy many traditionalists. In a heated debate, however, Synod endorsed the view that such a compromise would “legislate discrimination.”

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THE General Synod has asked the House of Bishops not to amend the draft women-bishops Measure “substantially”, after a three-hour debate on Wednesday afternoon.

The Synod backed Canon Peter Spiers in amending the Southwark amendment, so that it implied support for the Bishops to exercise their power to amend the legislation, but not to the extent that it would be likely to necessitate a new reference to the dioceses.

The decision whether any amend­ment is “substantial”, and therefore requires a further diocesan reference, is not, however, in the hands of the House of Bishops, but in those of the so-called “group of six”: the two Archbishops, the two clergy Pro­locutors, and the chair and vice-chair of the House of Laity, taking legal advice.

The Spiers amendment was carried in a division by Houses: Bishops: 40 to five, with one re­corded abstention; Clergy: 122 to 70, with one recorded abstention; Laity: 107 to 85, with four recorded ab­stentions. The vote on the Southwark amendent as amended was carried: Bishops: 26 to 16, with five recorded abstentions; Clergy: 128 to 64; Laity: 111 to 85, with one recorded abstention.

At this late stage, the Synod has no power to dictate what the House of Bishops does or does not do to the legislation, but it will take note of what members have requested, and of the voting figures.

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Supporters of women bishops in the Church of England have hailed the latest General Synod vote but warned against further changes to the plan.

A leading campaigner regretted the Archbishop of Canterbury's remark that "some bits of fine tuning" were needed.

The Church's ruling body said the House of Bishops could make some amendments to the law before a final vote in July.

One opponent of women bishops said that if nothing was changed before then there would be a "train crash".

When the final vote on creating female bishops is held in July, the proposed law will require two-thirds majorities.

The legislation as it stands would allow traditionalist parishes to have the right of access to an alternative male bishop appointed by a woman diocesan bishop.

Opponents of women bishops fear that this means the alternative bishop would derive their authority from the woman bishop.

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BLACK gowns, the mark of the Reformed, and gorgeous Anglican copes were seen together in proces­sion in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday evening, when members of the United Reformed Church and the Church of England joined to lay to rest the bitterness of 1662.

The Archbishop of Canterbury described that year as “a political as well as a religious watershed”, one that challenged Christians of both denom­inations to move away from infantile faith to greater maturity.

The service marked both the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of the URC — uniting Presbyterians and Congregationalists — and the 350th anniversary of the Act of Uniformity. Under the Act, Presbyterian and Independent ministers had been forced out of the livings that they had held since the Commonwealth period.

But that “Great Ejection”, as the order of service pointed out, had followed the suppression of epis­copacy and of the Prayer Book, and the executions of Archbishop Laud and King Charles I. So there were wounds on both sides of this historic rift to be healed.

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Bishops in the House of Lords are a “key voice” for social justice and the poor, the Church of England’s governing body heard today.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens told General Synod that aside from the Lords spiritual, the voices speaking up for the poor before Parliament were “few and far between”.

He said there was a “great opportunity” for bishops to speak up on the “scandal” of widening inequalities in society after the Lords spiritual helped to defeat the Government’s plans to introduce a £26,000 cap on benefits.

The bishop said: “Members of Synod may have noticed in recent weeks members of Lords spiritual being heavily involved in some of the fundamental reform agendas going through Parliament – health and social care, legal aid, welfare reform.

“There have been many conversations behind the scenes with ministers this week. Such is the political mood that those voices prepared to speak unequivocally and sometimes unpopularly for the poor are few and far between.

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AM here

PM here

AM read here

PM read here

In light of recent developments, including the letter from 120 clergy in the diocese of London and the Bishop of Salisbury’s comments as reported in The Times, Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and current president of Oxtrad, has made the following brief statement:

"We affirm the value of all friendships and strong relationships between people, whether in the family or with friends. We want a society with such strong friendships and relationships. Marriage, however, is a special kind of relationship and should not be confused with other relationships which have their own integrity. This is rooted in the Bible’s understanding of man and woman being created together and created together in God’s image. This means that men and women are ordered to one another and it is their similarity and also their difference which makes for the complementarity needed for a stable union.

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General Synod puts off split over ordination of female prelates by delaying legislation for fine tuning until final approval in July

Conscientious objectors are being shown no mercy by the Church’s Militant Tendency

There is now no doubt that the Church of England will consecrate its first woman bishop within the next couple of years. This will happen without any statutory provision for those who in conscience cannot accept women’s episcopacy. The significant minority of clergy and laity who oppose this innovation will simply be told to like it – or lump it and go elsewhere. Thus tens of thousands of traditional and faithful Anglicans will be unchurched.
 
This stinking fish has been a long time on the slab. Back in 1992, the church voted to admit women to the priesthood, but this was only agreed upon the intervention of the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, who insisted that there were “two integrities” within the church: the one that could accept women priests and the other that could not. Room must be made for both. If Dr Habgood’s agreeable compromise had not been accepted then there would not have been a majority in favour of the ordination of women.
 
The radical innovators, illiberal “liberals,” non-believing secularists and intolerant feminists who together govern the church are determined not to make the same mistake again. They are saying to the opponents of women bishops, “Well, get out then!” – except this injunction is not generally put even as politely as that.

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"That this Synod, gravely concerned at the desparate plight of Christian communities in parts of Nigeria, as described in GS 1861, request the Briitsh Government to do all it can to support those in NIgeria seeking to protect religious minorities of all faiths and enable them to practice their religion without fear."

The Archbishop of York said: "Anyone who touches you touches us. Our arm is long."

The Archbishop of Canterbury noted that synod's concern was not simply about the well being of Christian communities but the well being of the entire community.

The Archbishop of Jos in Northern Nigeria was also cited as noting that there is no city or town in the middle belt and southern Nigeria where Muslims are denied a place of worship with large mosques and the guarantee of security and freedom to worship. But there is no reciprocation of this gesture, especially in the North of Nigeria. 

Attention was drawn to the current issue of Newsweek in which Ayaan Hirsi Ali notes that the violent oppression of  Christian minorities has become the norm in Muslim-majority nations stretching from West Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and Oceania.  She notes a regrettable media reticence and indeed a conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance. 

Keith Malcouronne urged that the Nigerian church was hurt that the English church was invaded by materialism, consumerism and sexual infidelity. The church was seen to have lost its first love. Solidarity should be shown by action and self-discipline for the sake of those who are witnessing to the gospel that we hold dear. The Church of England should not do anything to undermine their witness.

Morning Session here

Afternoon Session here

The Church of England’s governing body has heard that more work needs to be done on draft legislation to allow women bishops.

General Synod is considering legislation making provision for those who cannot in conscience accept a woman bishop, including an amendment that would grant greater authority to clergy providing alternative oversight.

The Manchester motion is based on an amendment put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2010 and proposes ‘co-ordinate’ jurisdiction in dioceses where a parish has requested male oversight.

This would make the intervening male bishop less subject to the authority of the female diocesan bishop than under the ‘delegated’ jurisdiction being proposed in the draft legislation as it stands.

The Rt Rev Nigel Stock, the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, told Synod that the committee on the draft Code of Practice, which he chaired, had sought to enable “consistency” and “avoid confusion” in the application of the scheme.

Canon Chris Sugden, of orthodox group Anglican Mainstream, questioned whether the Code of Practice would be able to achieve this.

He said: “They produced a code for two bishops to work together, neither of whom believes in principle in what they are called to do – one to receive delegation from a person they might not regard in episcopal orders, the other to give delegation to which they in principle object.

“This disagreement needs to be addressed and this gap reached across. Is the code of practice strong enough to bridge this principled disagreement?”

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The key legislation that will enable women to be appointed and consecrated as bishops in the Church of England has returned to General Synod for further debate and final drafting during its Feb. 6-9 group of sessions in London.

Fees for Church of England weddings are to increase by 40% and the cost of a funeral service by more than 50%.

Church members have voted to raise the cost of a wedding from £296 to £415 and for a funeral service from £102 to £160 from January next year.

The fees include the costs of lighting and administration for the first time.

The moves come despite a warning from some members of the Church's governing body, the General Synod, that the rises could have an impact on poorer couples.

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The Diocese of Southwark has released a press statement announcing two new Area Bishops. Rev Jonathan Clark has been appointed the 10th Bishop of Croydon and the Venerable Dr Michael Ipgrave OBE has been appointed the 12th Bishop of Woolwich.

The Revd Jonathan Clark succeeds the Rt Rev Nick Baines who is now the 10th Bishop of Bradford.

The Revd Jonathan Clark is currently Chair of Affirming Catholicism, UK, which has links with Inclusive Church.

There are now no evangelical bishops in the Diocese of Southwark despite evangelicals making up 35% of the Diocese in congregational terms.

Click here for Press Release from Diocese of Southwark

The argument deployed by the London clergy calling on the Church of England to allow civil partnership ceremonies shows why the current ban is such an easy door for the vandals of political correctness to kick in.

The signatories to last week's letter to The Times seized upon the decision by the General Synod in 2002 to allow clergy to conduct marriage services for divorced persons:

We, the undersigned, believe that on the issue of holding civil partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches incumbents/priests in charge should be accorded the same rights as they enjoy at present in the matter of officiating at the marriage of divorced couples in church. Namely, that this should be a matter for the individual conscience of the incumbent/priest in charge.

One glaring name on the list of signatories is Dr Martin Dudley, rector of St Bartholomew The Great, Smithfield. He was the clergyman who conducted a pseudo-marriage service for two homosexual clergy in 2008.

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Damaging relations with Sudan

This question was asked at general synod as a supplementary to a statement about the Church of England's support for the Church of Sudan:

"Given the church of Sudan's sensitivity to biblical teaching on human sexuality, as illustrated in their recent response to TEC, is the chairman aware that the Bishop of Salisbury's recent statement on gay marriage could seriously inhibit the ability of the Episcopal Church of Sudan to receive help from the Church of England?"