Well A Head

Some of us have been saying since the Year Dot, or so it feels, that no legislation providing for women bishops would ever receive a two-thirds majority in all three Houses of the General Synod.

The new Synod has just been elected. Forward in Faith and Reform only need one more vote, easily obtainable from among the undecided Evangelicals, to block it in the House of Clergy. And in any case, they already have enough votes to block it in the House of Laity.

But instead, they are blathering on about conscience clauses and what have you. Why? The people far beyond their natural support who manipulated STV for multimember constituencies in order to give them this number of seats did not do so for that, but in order to kick the whole thing into the long grass, preferably permanently.

No one who does not accept in full the claims of Rome can submit to Her; no one who does can fail to do so. In its own terms, if a new network of Conservative Evangelical congregations would better serve the proclamation of the Gospel, then it must be created anyway. In neither case does any other consideration arise.