No promises were broken, says GRAS

From The Church Times-

A NEW report published by the Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod (GRAS) says that promises made to opponents of women’s ordination “have not been broken”. Traditionalists should be confident that provisions in the draft legislation for women bishops will be upheld, it argues.

Promises — kept, broken or never made?, which was published this week, says that the provision made by the General Synod for those who are unable to accept the ministry of women bishops is “very similar” to that made for opponents of women’s ordination in 1993. Last year, the Synod approved a code of practice for traditionalists, the contents of which have not yet been worked out (News, 16 July 2010). It fell short of the statutory provisions for which traditionalists had asked.

The author of the new report, the Revd Rosalind Rutherford, a Team Vicar in Basingstoke Team Ministry, examined records of the debates in General Synod in July and November 1993, when the Act of Synod was proposed and debated. The Act introduced the concept of extended episcopal oversight and of Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEVs), or flying bishops, to care for parishes that could not accept women priests.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=117978