Women bishops to be discussed at
12^th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia 

The 12^th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia will today (July 23) debate a new canon (church law) which could remove all the legal obstacles to the consecration of women to the episcopate (women bishops).

In 1992 the General Synod removed legal barriers to the ordination of women as priests with the passing of a canon and since then 18 of the church's 23 dioceses have adopted this canon. 

Five dioceses - Sydney, Ballarat, North West Australia, The Murray and Wangaratta - have not passed the canon and one, Armidale, has passed it but it is no longer in force. 

The women bishops canon to go before General Synod today 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 canon is 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 goes 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. 

Importantly, the proposed canon includes a protocol relating to the provision of episcopal (bishop) oversight and ministry for those unable to accept the ministry of a female bishop. 

The canon states: "In any diocese in which a woman is appointed as bishop, the bishop of the diocese must ensure that appropriate episcopal pastoral oversight and ministry is provided for persons whose conscience precludes them from accepting the ministry of a bishop who is a woman … No member of clergy or lay member of this church shall suffer any discrimination or prejudice because he or she in conscience accepts female bishops, priests or deacons or does not so accept them." (Sections 6.1, 8) 

At a local level, parishes will be able to vote to have a bishop from another region or diocese minister to them, if they wish to have episcopal ministry by a bishop other than a female bishop.  

As a "special Bill", the women bishops canon will require a two-thirds majority of the General Synod at the final voting stage. If passed, it becomes a "provisional canon" and must then be considered by each diocese. If, at the next General Synod in 2004, the provisional canon is passed by two-thirds majority at the final voting stage, it will become a "canon" and go back to dioceses to consider and adopt or not adopt. 

The General Synod may vote on the canon as one body, but it may be the case that a sufficient number of members (five bishops or 10 clergy or laity) call for a vote by "Houses". This would mean the House of Bishops, House of Clergy and House of Laity would vote separately, and to pass, the question must pass each house. 

There are 11 women bishops in the worldwide Anglican Communion, in New Zealand, the United States and Canada. 

On behalf of the Standing Committee of General Synod, two General Synod members, Dr Muriel Porter, from Melbourne, and Dr Ann Young, from Sydney, will present two perspectives on the issue. This will be followed by questions of clarification and a small group discussion. 

Dr Porter said the Bible speaks of women appearing in positions of leadership and of Jesus calling women to various ministries. 

“The episcopate without women is not complete,” Dr Porter said. 

“The threefold ordering of ordained ministry - bishop, priest and deacon - is not whole when one gender is excluded. 

“With more than 10 per cent of the active clergy now women and their numbers increasing, the exclusion of women from the episcopate will become increasingly symbolic of a fundamental division in the body of Christ.” 

Dr Young said the Bible clearly disallows women as elders and bishops. 

“Men and women in their equality before God have different ministries to fulfil,” Dr Young said. 

“The essential issue in this debate is theological, not a matter of church practice.

“The bishop is the focus of unity. To have some church members support the bishop and some oppose her in good conscience would make the bishop the focus of disunity.” 

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