'You can see the point of not wanting to be the branch that saws itself off from the tree.'

There may be schisms (again) but women bishops in the Church of England are almost a reality. It was inevitable, says Steve Tomkins.

Well, thank God for that.

18 years after agreeing to the ordination of women priests, the Church of England is finally legislating for women bishops too.

The 1992 decision was passed after 17 years of discussion and by two votes.

Now the committee responsible has published a 142-page report setting out terms, which will be more widely debated in the General Synod in July.

The decision to start the process was made by the General Synod in 2008, and it will take at least four more years before women bishops can be ordained.

Arrangements

The question of what arrangements to make for priests who don’t accept women bishops will take quite some thrashing out in July, the Synod already having decided against the creation of “superbishops” to allow traditionalists to enjoy the ministrations of male bishops alone.

I certainly like the sound of superbishops, though I think I probably picture them rather differently from synod – landing in ecclesiastical trouble spots in a flutter of purple cape, hearing both sides of the story and saying “Hmm” in an amazingly impressive voice.

But that’s not going to happen, and women bishops are.

I think it’s fair to have a certain amount of understanding and sympathy for the losing side in this. Religion is not an individual pursuit, it’s organic – the body of Christ, members of one another, that kind of thing.

The Church of England is a relatively recent and relatively marginal organ in this body, and whether you measure it throughout time or throughout the world today, the vast majority insists that Christian leadership is male.

You can see the point of not wanting to be the branch that saws itself off from the tree.

You can see the point, but you can’t accept it. (No, you can’t.)

True

If anything in the world is true, it’s that women have the same rights, dignities, mental abilities and spiritual qualities as men.

They are not any less close to God or less like God. They are not less able to lead, serve, inspire, teach or stand between God and laity.

It was Christianity that taught the western world that every human being is made in the image of God.

It was the western world that unpacked the idea, took it to its only possible logical conclusion, feminism, and is now teaching this revelation back to the church.

We’re slow learners, but we’re getting there.

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