John Sentamu and Rowan Williams head the Archbishops' Council. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/Press Association
A senior body of the Church of England has said attempts to allow women to become bishops should be revived "as a matter of urgency", with fresh proposals debated in the General Synod next year.
The call is a clear sign of concern over the damage that could be done to the church's image and status if the issue remains unresolved for years.
In a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Sheffield, the Archbishops' Council called on the house of bishops to come up with a strategy in December for bringing revised plans before the synod in July, meaning a final approval vote could be expected in late 2014 or 2015.
When the vote on female bishops failed last week, it was thought that the synod might have to wait until 2015 for the matter to be tackled again. But the ensuing outcry from within the church, among the general public and in parliament led the church's most senior "civil servant", William Fittall, to urge the Archbishops' Council to consider an "urgent and radical" new strategy that could see women in the episcopate by 2015.
The council is a body comprising representatives from all three houses of the synod, headed by the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the archbishop of York, John Sentamu. It said many of its members had voiced the "deep degree of sadness and shock" they felt in the aftermath of the vote, last Tuesday.
It added: "In its discussions, the council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013. There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency. The council therefore recommended that the House of Bishops, during its meeting in a fortnight's time, put in place a clear process for discussions in the New Year with a view to bringing legislative proposals before the synod in July."
There remain many questions over what such proposals would look like and whether they would be able to muster a two-thirds majority in the same synod that rejected the legislation last week. The legislation that was voted on last week was the result of 12 years of wrangling and debate, and was almost sunk in July after the bishops added an amendment that supporters of female bishops felt tipped the balance too far in their opponents' favour.
Christina Rees, a member of the council and prominent campaigner for female bishops, said there was now a feeling among many that the church should pursue a simpler form of legislation. The measure voted down last week would have allowed women to enter the episcopate but would have been accompanied by a code of practice to allow opponents to request an alternative, male bishop.
"Even though it wasn't unanimous in council, there was a substantial group of us who would like to go forward with simpler, more straightforward legislation to achieve the main objective of the measure, which is to get women into the episcopate," she said.
Leading opponents said in a statement they were not in principle against fresh legislation being passed speedily through synod as long as it made "clear and fair provision" for their theological needs.
Simon Killwick of the Catholic Group and Rod Thomas of the conservative evangelical group Reform said in a statement: "If agreement can be reached at round-table talks on fresh legislation which provides clearly and fairly for all members of the Church of England, there is no reason why fresh legislation should not be fast-tracked through the synod before the next elections in 2015."
Meanwhile, anger over last week's vote continues to spread at the church's grassroots. In the diocese of Hereford, women have been urged to wear an apron to church on Sunday December 9th as a protest. "The idea is that women wear an apron or pinafore on top of their clothes as a mockery of the idea that they are fit only for tea-making," said Christine Walters, from Stoke Lacey. "We all know that women contribute so much to the church, and especially our women priests, who need our support at the moment. We are asking men to wear a purple ribbon."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/28/church-of-england-female-bishops
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