12 July 2010

News from England



Dr. Williams has commented on the votes Saturday to turn down all the amendments and advance the ordination of women to the episcopate in England. He has not called for more delay as some feared but rather for serious work on the "code of practice" that will define to what extent and how those who object will be accommodated. I have been from time to time rather critical of the archbishop so I think it only fair that I say something when I think he is right.

England has an (opaque) process for these sorts of decisions and to maintain any sense of the integrity of the institution, one needs follow it. So, yes, let the process move on. Slow and cumbersome as it is, the rules were set out before the contest was engaged.

I rather expect that the "code of practice" document will be very controversial and that if the input of +++York is visible, repressive. But that is for another day. For today, the Spirit led where it did and the primates appear ready to move on down the process.

The Telegraph has a quite good article on this. I have excerpted a couple quotes here. Do go read it all.

''It is very tempting at times of stress and difficulty such as we have been through in the last couple of days to think 'drop it into the difficult basket','' he told the General Synod.
''I do not really think that is an option.''

'As the votes on Saturday illustrated, we remain as a Synod, it seems, committed by a majority to the desirability of seeing women as bishops for the health and flourishing of the work of God's Kingdom, of this Church and this nation,'' he said.
''We are also profoundly committed by a majority in the Synod to a maximum generosity that can be consistently and coherently exercised towards the consciences of minorities and we have not yet cracked how to do that.''

2 comments:

C. Wingate said...

Well, the AC reaction thus far, that I've seen, is that they hold a code of practice worthless. And they are correct to do so, given the American experience.

JimB said...

There really is no direct comparison between the "code of practice" and our polity. But I do take your point that which is granted can be withdrawn.

The thing is, it is all that is on offer. I cannot be the only lefty who hopes the conservatives do a lot of input and that something at least marginally acceptable emerges. Granted it won't be perfect, it is what is out there and as we on the other side have experienced, sometimes you have to take what you can achieve and move on to another day.

FWIW
jimB

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