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Debate on women bishops adjourned at
12^th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia 

The 12^th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has adjourned its debate on a new canon (church law) which could remove all the legal obstacles to the consecration of women to the episcopate (women bishops). 

Debate on the Bill was adjourned during the General Synod meeting today. 

A motion will be debated tomorrow regarding the way forward, including further discussion within the Anglican Church. 

The style of the future discussion regarding women bishops will depend on the final resolution approved by General Synod tomorrow. 

General Secretary of the General Synod, the Reverend Dr Bruce Kaye, said the Church would have to struggle with the question of women bishops “for quite a long time”. 

“If the Synod adopts the motion tomorrow, this means that there is no possibility of women bishops in the Anglican Church of Australia for at least another six years,” Dr Kaye said. 

During their discussions on the Bill, the General Synod last night voted 118 to 106 to keep in place protective measures for those unable in good conscience to accept women bishops. The Synod was to debate the protective measures in greater detail today but decided to adjourn the debate instead. 

“In my view, no Bill that does not take account of the rights of minorities will get through,” Dr Kaye said. 

Yesterday in a secret ballot, the General Synod voted 135 “for” and 95 “against”, with two abstentions, on a motion to accept the Bill in principle, which took it into a further stage of debate. The motion was moved by Dr Muriel Porter, of Melbourne, and seconded by Bishop of Bunbury, David McCall. 

The women bishops Bill was the result of wide consultation throughout the church by a working group formed following the last General Synod in Adelaide in February 1998. 

The Bill was modelled on the Law of the Church of England Clarification Canon 1992 - the church law which removed any possible legal obstacles to the ordination of women as priests. 

But it went further, giving the General Synod the opportunity to recognise that there are differences of opinion in the church as to whether a woman can or should perform the duties of a bishop, but also recognises and affirms the essential unity of the church under God within a tolerable diversity. 

As a "special Bill", it required a two-thirds majority of the General Synod at the final voting stage, but the adjournment meant it did not reach the stage of a final vote. 

The General Synod is being held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Brisbane, from July 21-27, 2001.