After a twelve-year legislative battle, the General Synod of the Church of England has rejected a move to consecrate women bishops.

In order to pass, the legislation required a 2/3 majority in all three Houses of Synod. Although there was enough support in the House of Bishops and the House of Clergy to pass the measure, the House of Laity was just a few votes shy of the required majority. The final tally was as follows:

House of Bishops: 44 in favor, 2 against

House of Clergy: 148 in favor, 45 against

House of Laity: 132 in favor, 74 against

Earlier in the day, the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate and current Bishop of Durham, the Rt. Rev. Justin Welby, urged the Synod to support the measure. He said that the church needed to show that it could “Manage diversity of view without division – diversity in amity, not diversity in enmity.”

“We cannot get trapped into believing this is a zero sum decision where one person’s gain must be another’s loss.”

Also speaking in favor of the change, the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt. Rev. James Jones, said that he had changed his mind on the issue. “I now believe that for the mission of God to the people of England it is right for women to take up their place in this House of Bishops sitting before you now.”

Canon Rosie Harper told the Synod that rejecting the measure would have dire consequences. “Firstly, as a Church for the whole country we will be seen to have failed to do what is right and honourable; a Church with lower moral standards than the rest of society risks its right to comment on other issues.”

“Secondly, it will inevitably be seen as the act of a dying Church more wedded to the past than committed to hope for the future.”

However, one of the Anglo-Catholic members of Synod, Canon Simon Killwick, claimed that the measure should be rejected because “it has united against it the whole spectrum of traditionalists.”

The Church of England has allowed women to become priests since 1994, but a vocal minority of Anglicans remains opposed to women in the ministry. ‘High Church’ Anglicans claim that the ordination of women flies in the face of two millennia of Catholic practice, while ‘Low Church’ Anglicans point to Bible verses that they say prohibit women from having authority over men.

When the first women were ordained, a host of measures were put in place to mollify traditionalists. Parishes that opposed the ordination of women could ban female priests from their pulpits, and they could even opt-out of their local bishop’s authority if he supported the ordination of women.

But the prospect of women bishops threatened to be even more problematic for traditionalists. Because they believe that it is theologically impossible for a woman to be a bishop, they would be unable to accept priests ordained by female bishops, even if the priests were male. And although traditionalist parishes would have been able to ask a female bishop to delegate her pastoral responsibilities to a male colleague, many were unhappy with that proposal because they believed that a female bishop would not have any authority to begin with.

In a last-minute bid to reassure traditionalists, the House of Bishops amended the proposal to include a clause stating that, not only could parishes request alternative episcopal oversight from a male bishop, that bishop would have to share their views on the ordination of women. In other words, alternative episcopal oversight could only be provided by a bishop who had not ordained women and had been ordained by a woman himself.

But this eleventh-hour compromise angered many liberals, who claimed it was tantamount to gender-based apartheid. A number of prominent liberal Synod members announced that they would vote against the entire package, claiming that it was better to delay the admission of women to the episcopate rather than admit them as second-class citizens.

Now that the measure has been defeated, supporters of female bishops will have to start the legislative process all over again. The current measure was first introduced in 2009, so it is likely that the General Synod will not be able to revisit the matter until 2015 at the earliest.

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On July 10, The Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies gave final approval to a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions.

Resolution A049 authorizes the provisional use of a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex relationships. Strictly speaking, it is not “marriage,” but rather “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant.” However, it has many of the same elements as the traditional marriage service, including the exchange of vows and rings.

The Rev. Jack Zamboni, a deputy from the Diocese of New Jersey, praised the quality of the draft liturgy, saying that he wished he and his wife could have used it when they were married. He also told of how two lesbian parishioners of his were moved to tears when he told them that this General Convention would be considering a rite to bless their relationship. “They had never thought it would happen in their lifetime,” he said.

Deputy Ian Hallas from the Diocese of Chicago, who identified himself as a straight ally, spoke of his sister and her love for her partner. “The reason I return [to General Convention] is for my sister. I seek to assure that she not only has the same rites as myself but also the same privileges.”

But there were some who were adamantly opposed to the resolution. “For 2,000 years, the church has had clear teaching regarding marriage,” said the Very Rev. David Thurlow, deputy from the Diocese of South Carolina. He was a member of the committee that endorsed the resolution, but he dissented from its report.

“This resolution marks a clear and significant departure — theological, doctrinal and in worship — from the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them,” he said. It introduces a “new theology of human sexuality,” he continued.

The final passage of the resolution was marred by procedural squabbling. A deputy moved to divide the resolution, and the President of the House of Deputies accepted his request. Her ruling was then challenged, and confusion reigned as the House tried to figure out how to proceed. Ultimately, the motion to divide was voted down, and the resolution was finally able to proceed to a final vote.

Because there was a request to vote ‘by orders,’ the clerical and lay deputations from each diocese had to vote separately. The final tally was:

CLERICAL DEPUTATIONS:

85 Yes

22 No

4 Divided

LAY DEPUTATIONS:

86 Yes

19 No

5 Divided

The House of Bishops already passed the resolution, so it is now officially on the books. Same-sex blessings will be available from the first Sunday in Advent, though bishops will not be required to allow their clergy to use them.

Just before the vote on A049, the House of Deputies considered Resolution C095, which finally nudged the church down the road to structural reform. It calls for the creation of a task force of up to 24 people who will collect ideas from all levels of the church regarding possible changes to the church’s structure and system of government.

The General Convention received over 51 resolutions calling for structural reform, and it fell to the Committee on Structure to craft a single resolution that would be acceptable to as many people as possible. Their work produced C095, and in an astounding turn of events, it managed to pass the Deputies on a unanimous voice vote.

After its passage, the Rev. Gay Jennings, co-chair of the Committee on Structure and President-Elect of the House of Deputies, said that there was “a palpable desire to reimagine how we do business. I think as much as the discussion is about structure, perhaps even more the passion and the interest in this is about identity and vision: who we are as the church, who is God calling us to be in the 21st century.”

The measure now goes to the House of Bishops.

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On the fifth day of The Episcopal Church’s General Convention, the House of Bishops voted 111 to 41 to approve the draft liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions.

Resolution A049 would not actually allow same-sex couple to marry, but would allow them to have their relationship blessed using a service known as “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant.”

Before it went to the House of Bishops, the Resolution was considered by the Committee on the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Church Music, where it underwent substantial amendment. Most of the amendments were minor tweaks to the wording of the liturgy, but the committee also included a new clause specifying that Episcopal clergy would not be compelled to use the rite. Furthermore, it also declared that no bishop, member of the clergy, or lay person could be penalized because of their conscientious disagreement with the decision to bless same-sex unions.

During his introductory remarks on the resolution, the co-chair of the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Church Music Committee, Bishop Thomas Ely of Vermont, said that “there is a place in this process for every Episcopalian regardless of their level of support for the material. Read it. Reflect upon it. Use it, but please don’t ignore it.”

Bishop John Bauerschmidt of Tennessee demanded a roll call vote, and called on the House to reject the resolution. “This liturgy that is proposed does not have the basis in scripture, tradition or reason for us to authorize its use.”

His remarks were echoed by Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana. “The Christian world will look at that liturgy world and see vows, and exchange of rings, a pronouncement and a blessing and they will understand that to mean the Episcopal Church has endorsed same-sex marriage and changed a basic Christian doctrine. I do not believe that we are free to do that.”

Some of the bishops claimed that the resolution would alienate Hispanic members of the church. But Bishop Leo Frade of Southeast Florida called his brethren out for treating Hispanics as a monolithic block. “The reality is that we, like everybody else, have gay children. We have gay parents. We have gay uncles,” he said.

“You cannot generalize that Hispanics are going to run away from the Episcopal Church because we have a door that’s open. We are going to run from immigration that’s trying to deport us, but not from the Episcopal Church,” he continued.

Bishop Steven Miller of Milwaukee also opposed the resolution, claiming that it would turn LGBTQ Episcopalians into second-class citizens who could receive a blessing, but not marry.

But by and large, most bishops announced their support for the proposal, saying that they were true to the spirit of Anglicanism, which has long aimed to be a ‘big tent’ church that includes diverse theological viewpoints. Bishop Nathan Baxter of Central Pennsylvania exhorted his fellow bishops to “theological, pastoral and canonical inclusion.” He reminded the House that the church had been mulling issues of homosexuality for over 40 years, and it was time to move the conversation forward.

The resolution must now go before the House of Deputies before it can become church law.

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Thousands of Episcopalians have arrived in Indianapolis for the church’s triennial General Convention. During the week-long assembly, bishops and elected representatives of the clergy and laity discuss changes to church law and policy. But before the main legislative work begins, the General Convention’s committees must scrutinize the plethora of proposed resolutions that have been submitted.

Institutional reform is a topic that looms large on the Convention’s agenda, and dioceses across the country have submitted resolutions calling for structural change. During an evening hearing on July 5, the Committee on Structure heard testimony from bishops, deputies, and visitors who claimed that the church’s institutions were in need of comprehensive reform.

The Bishop of Central Pennsylvania, Sean Rowe, struck an ominous note when he warned the committee that “the church structure as it is now is on the verge of imploding.”

Similarly, the Bishop of Atlanta, Neil Alexander, called for “a new structure and a new approach to doing mission in the 21st century.”

“I believe that every baptized person, ordained or not, shares in the governance of the church, but we’ve also frankly got some idolatry, I believe, around some of our structures and I think it’s time we put them all on the table and gave them a really hard look,” he continued.

Other witnesses took a more cautious line. “Let’s stop thinking and saying our church is broken. Our church is not broken,” said Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, a Deputy from the Diocese of East Carolina.

“We have in place structures and concepts and values that have served us well for more than 100 years,” she continued.

But when the committee gathered the next day to consider what they had heard, members noted that the testimony did not contain any firm solutions to the problem.

“People don’t know exactly what they want but are asking for change, something different,” said Judith Conley, a Deputy from the Diocese of Arizona.

Fifty-one resolutions calling for structural reform have been submitted to the General Convention, and the Committee on Structure decided to appoint a subcommittee to try to streamline them into a single resolution to put before the whole Convention.

Many of the resolutions were based on a model resolution proposed by Bishop Stacy Sauls, the church’s Chief Operating Officer. That resolution called for a special commission to be appointed by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies which would be charged with coming up with “a plan to the church for reforming its structures, governance, administration, and staff to facilitate this church’s faithful engagement in Christ’s mission.” The resolution also called for a special General Convention to be held prior to the next scheduled one in 2015.

Others called for more radical change. The Diocese of San Diego proposed a resolution that would amend the church’s constitution in order to provide for the calling of a special constitutional convention that could immediately enact constitutional changes.

According to the Rev. Michael Russell, one of the diocese’s deputies, the other proposals “are just going to be an opportunity to recycle the same old things by folks who are already well-embedded in the system.”

He went on to say that the proposed constitutional convention would be a great way “to bring all the issues that we have with the constitutional, the canons, the Book of Common Prayer, all those pieces and get everybody at the table who wants to discuss making change in the church.”

Elsewhere, the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music Committee endorsed a resolution creating a task force to study “biblical, theological, historical, liturgical and canonical dimensions of marriage.”

It also instructed the task force to work with the Standing Commissions on Canons and on Liturgy and Music to provide assistance for clergy living in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.

Testifying in support of the proposed task force, deputies from the Diocese of El Camino Real spoke of how a similar study in their own diocese had proved to be a positive experience.

Within the committee itself there was some dissent. The Rev. David Thurlow, a Deputy from the Diocese of South Carolina, objected to the cost of the task force, as well as its effect on The Episcopal Church’s ecumenical outreach.

“My deepest regret is that, when it comes to moral theology, we’re really willing to part company with the wider one holy catholic church,” he said during the committee’s deliberations.

But his fellow committee member, Deputy Katrina Hamilton from the Diocese of Olympia, spoke out in favor of the task force. “I would like to get married one day myself, and when I do I would like to know what it is,” she said.

“I think we need this for all of us, not just for our gay and lesbian friends and brothers and sisters, but for me as well.”

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, announced on March 16 that he will step down at the end of the year in order to take up the position of Master of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge.

Originally from Wales, Williams had a distinguished career as a professor of theology before being elected Bishop of Monmouth in the Church of Wales in 1991. In 1999, he was elected Archbishop of Wales. Three years later, he was chosen to be the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior bishop in the Church of England and the titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Williams’ appointment was controversial from the start. Liberals in the church rejoiced. As a professor, he wrote an essay entitled “The Body’s Grace” that revealed his opposition to the church’s traditional teaching on homosexuality, and a series of letters written during his tenure as Archbishop of Wales revealed his belief that same-sex unions could be just as holy as heterosexual ones.

But the conservative wing of the church greeted him with suspicion, and he was snubbed by the National Evangelical Anglican Congress in 2003. They let him lead prayers, but he could not speak or preach a sermon.

But it soon became clear that, whatever his personal views on the subject of homosexuality, Williams was determined to maintain church unity at all costs. In 2003, a gay priest named Jeffrey John was chosen to be an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford. Other Anglican leaders objected to John’s appointment because of his longstanding relationship with another priest, even though it was a celibate one.

Fearing the dissolution of the Anglican Communion, Williams pressured John to withdraw his candidacy, and John ultimately acquiesced. Several years later, when John was being considered for the Bishopric of Southwark, Williams is widely believed to have vetoed his candidacy.

As the nominal leader of the Anglican Communion, Williams spoke out against the election of the openly-gay Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, and he was equally opposed to the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster’s decision to start blessing same-sex unions. But Williams was powerless to intervene, and he was equally unable to prevent conservative Anglican churches in Africa from trying to offer ‘alternative episcopal oversight’ to disaffected American parishes.

In a bid to keep the increasingly-fractious Anglican Communion together, Williams asked each autonomous province of the Communion to sign up to an ‘Anglican Covenant’ that would oblige them to consider the views of other provinces before doing anything that “may provoke controversy.”

Furthermore, churches that breached the rules could face disciplinary action, such as suspension from inter-Anglican bodies. But it now looks as if the Church of England itself may reject the Covenant. In order to proceed to a vote in the General Synod (the church’s lawmaking body), the Covenant would need to be approved by a majority of the 44 dioceses. So far, 17 have voted against it, and only 10 have voted in favor.

When announcing his resignation, Williams attempted to downplay the effect of the row over homosexuality. “It has certainly been a major nuisance,” he said. “But in every job that you are in there are controversies and conflicts and this one isn’t going to go away in a hurry. I can’t say that it is a great sense of ‘free at last.’”

Williams may yet see one last triumph before he leaves office. In July, the General Synod could approve legislation to allow the consecration of women bishops. But many Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals oppose the plan, and they could still make life difficult for Williams as he prepares to leave office.

Williams’ successor will be found through a complex process involving both church and state. A church body known as the Crown Nominations Commission will come up with a list of two names to send to the Prime Minister. By convention, the Prime Minister then forwards the first name on to the Queen, who formally approves the appointment.

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The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), the national coalition of religious denominations and groups dedicated to reproductive justice, launched a national campaign to demonstrate the widespread support for expanded access to birth control and contraception among people of faith.

The campaign – “I’m a Fan of Birth Control” – involves hundreds of clergy and religious leaders and activists of all faiths in public awareness and educational programs about the importance of birth control as preventive health care for women.

“The Catholic hierarchy and some religious extremist groups have turned the inclusion of contraception coverage in the health care law into a public battle about their ‘religious freedom.’ The opposite is the case. They are using religion as a cover to discriminate against women,” said Reverend Alethea Smith-Withers of the RCRC Board of Directors.

“While we respect that there are differing religious views on contraception, the fact is that religiously affiliated employers that are objecting to covering birth control in their health plans are publicly funded, serve the public, and employ people of all faiths. They must comply with the law,” she said. Strictly religious institutions such as churches that exist to inculcate religious faith are already exempt from this law.

Denominations with official positions and statements favoring the use of contraception and birth control include The Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, The United Methodist Church, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism. Excerpts of denominational statements are available on the RCRC website at www.rcrc.org.

RCRC’s position on contraceptive coverage is that access to birth control should be a priority for all society and should be covered by health plans and insurers as preventive care. The decision to become pregnant and have children is one of the most important decisions couples and individuals can make. Full access to birth control, without co-pays or other obstacles, is a key factor in enabling women to reach their potential and in building strong families.

Access to contraception helps to protect the health of women and children, reduce child and spousal abuse, prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and treat serious medical conditions such as endometriosis. As an organization dedicated to justice, RCRC believes that society has the responsibility to create the economic, social and cultural conditions that support all members of society and to provide generously for children’s health, education and well-being.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, founded in 1973, is an interfaith coalition of religious denominations and religiously affiliated organizations, theologians, clergy and seminarians, grass roots advocates, and youth on campuses across the country.

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