27 September 2010
Dioceses have until Monday, 14 November, 2011, to debate and
vote on draft legislation that would allow the consecration of
women as bishops, according to documents published this week.
The four
documents have been posted to Diocesan Secretaries and
circulated to General Synod members, as well as being posted on the
Church of England website. They are:
- a background note on the history of the legislative
proposals;
- the text of the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and
Ordination of
Women) Measure and draft Amending Canon No 30;
- an explanatory memorandum relating to the draft Measure and
draft
Canon; and
- a procedural note together with a copy of the response form
which diocesan secretaries need to send the Clerk to the Synod
recording the diocesan decision by 5pm on Monday 14 November
2011.
The membership of a group established to assist the House of
Bishops in preparing a draft of the statutory code of practice that
would be required under the Measure will be announced shortly.
Article 8 of the Constitution of the General Synod provides that
certain kinds of legislation may not receive the final approval of
the General Synod unless they have first been approved by the
majority of diocesan synods. Legislation to enable women to become
bishops falls within the scope of Article 8 and hence this
reference of the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and
Ordination of Women) Measure and draft Amending Canon No 30 to
dioceses.