The departing Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, argued for it. So did the incoming one, Justin Welby. Two of the three houses of the Church of England's governing synod, representing bishops and clergy, overwhelmingly voted for it, together with a large majority of the House of Laity.
It was not enough, however, and on Nov. 20, a measure that would have cleared the way for women bishops in Anglicanism's mother church failed to pass. There was immediate talk of a church "committing suicide."
The vote is not the end of the matter. The principle of female bishops in the Church of England, which was approved by the General Synod in 2008, remains. Women are sure to enter the House of Bishops eventually. Fully 42 of the church's 44 dioceses are in favor, as are three-quarters of the general public -- which matters to an established church.
What was rejected was a fudged compromise between liberals on the one hand and Anglo-Catholic traditionalists and conservative evangelicals on the other.
More here-
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/church-of-englands-rejection-of-ms-bishops-mystifies-181323981.html
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