Sadness at lost chance to make women bishops

The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Right Rev Paul Butler, has spoken of his sadness after a proposal to allow the consecration of women as bishops was rejected by the General Synod on Tuesday.

The move was supported by all but two of the 44 dioceses, including Southwell and Nottingham, but was defeated by six votes.

It means the issue cannot be brought back for discussion until a new General Synod is elected in several years, at which point the process would have to start again from the beginning.

The bishop said he wanted the legislation to be passed and believed it would have been the best thing to do to enable the Church of England to go forward together.

“I feel gutted for the wonderful women we have who would make excellent bishops,” he said.

“I am gutted, too, for younger women coming into the church. But I am gutted for us all as I think we would all gain by women in the episcopate.”

He said it was clear the Church of England wanted women as bishops but they had not found the right route to bring that about.

He said somehow they would have to find a way that would ensure thorough support in the coming years but in the meantime he would keep working to ensure that both women and men developed as leaders in his diocese.

The bishop plans to call an open meeting in the next few weeks to explain what happened at the General Synod and explore possibilities for the future.

Canon Sarah Clark, the Dean of Women’s Ministry in the diocese, said she was disappointed and frustrated by the decision.

She said it was out of step with what most people in the church wanted.

She said in the Southwell and Nottingham diocese 40% of ministers were women who were supported by their male colleagues

“This really is a missed opportunity,” she said.

The Bishop of Lincoln, the Right Rev Christopher Lowson, said the proposal had the support of most of the diocesan synods and so the decision raised serious questions about the representation of the General Synod.

He said: “This is a setback that could cement the church’s reputation as being outdated and out of touch.”