Softening up Synod

Credit: Telegraph - women bishops vote by 2015 at the earliest Photo: ALAMY

From the Telegraph: Final hurdle for women bishops to overcome - Church of England General Synod meets amid hopes of swift end to years of wrangling over women bishops ? But row looms over the precise meaning of ?Trust?.

Yesterday there was a debate on Gender-Based Violence [GS 1933]. Forgive me if I appear a little cynical but this debate appeared to be firmly in the camp of 'men have been beastly to women' so women must be ordained to redress the balance, notwithstanding the fact that it is not women but men who are becoming increasingly marginalised in the Anglican Church and in society in general if television coverage of events is anything to go by.

Alternative statistics which showed the balance of gender based violence was not as marked as suggested were rejected as were two amendments to ‘Leave out “violence based on gender” and insert “sexual and domestic violence”' and ‘In paragraph (c), leave out “boys and men” and insert “all people” ' (amendment details here).

Violence in all its forms is un-Christian and violence by males against females is particularly abhorrent even in this gender neutral age but it was no surprise and perhaps no coincidence that we were reminded of a familiar theme that the brutalisation of women has at its core the absence of women in the episcopate.

Only one thing appears to really matter now in the Church of England: women bishops. Never mind how or what has to be said. Hence all the rule bending and the never ending drip, drip of how tough it is for women in the Church. After yesterday's debate you could have fooled me.