Woman Bishops and the Church of England

The General Synod will soon be debating the draft Woman Bishop's Measure.

This has been developed under the leadership of the Rt Rev Nigel McCullough, Lord Bishop of Manchester, and former Bishop of Wakefield.

This will challenge the status quo in the Church of England and the 'two integrities' though 'The Church of England remains committed to Resolution III. 2 of the Lambeth Conference 1998 “that those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to, the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate are both loyal Anglicans.” '.

The proposed code of practice includes proposals relevant to multi-parish benefices, including a proposal for a benefice meeting with representatives of each parish to consider the issues of woman bishops, with the option to be able, after the appropriate legal niceties, for a PCC to ask for complementary episcopal oversight* and the ability for any PCC in a benefice to rescind Resolutions A and B passed in another parish within that benefice:

'in the case of a resolution passed by the PCC of a parish in a multi-parish benefice, the PCC of any other parish in that benefice passes a resolution stating that it wishes the resolution to cease to have effect;'

*Note the following clause: The diocesan bishop would not be expected to act upon a petition, or a decision to rescind a petition, unless satisfied that: 'the incumbent or priest-in-charge was in favour of the resolution in question, whether or not he had been present and voted.'

The relationships between parishes would change under the new draft proposed code of conduct.
That is a huge proposed change, and reflects the changing nature of the Church of England and some of the very real challenges that clergy who minister in multi-parish-benefices have to face.