The General Synod voted to reject women bishops. No Women Bishops

The House of Bishops voted 44 for and 3 against, the House of Clergy 132 for and 45 against, and the House of Laity 132 for and 74 against.  The House of Laity scuppered the vote. Its members are not part of religious institutes or clergy. They include committed churchgoers who are unelected and chosen by the vicar on the basis that somebody has to do it.

The argument stated by members of the laity who voted against women bishops was that the unification and concept of one church was under threat: and that the church would split if women bishops were allowed. The Church is trying to be an umbrella church to many other different churches with opposing views.
The general response appears to be concern and wonderment that this can happen in the modern secular world of 2012.

But are we in danger of making the fixed assumption that organisations are always there to serve the populations stated in their mission statements and values?

It might be broadly assumed that organisations in the public and charity sectors must be like this. For example the NHS was created to provide the UK population with free health care at source. Yet “appalling” examples of health care have been cited in today’s news.
Cuts and political ideology could be argued as a reason for this?

But then witness a Board Meeting, or senior management meeting and there seems to be other conflicting powers at work. Budgets, perception of what the organisation is, areas of change, and personalities bear down on what the organisation is trying to do. The organisation can be divided into the staff on the ground dealing with the client group and others at a more senior level have forgotten or never experienced who the client group is, dealing with reports and data. Workers dealing directly with the client group doggedly stick to their task feeling that even attending meetings is taking them away from their work. Managing the tension between these two points of view is what is demanded in these times of cut backs and ideology.

The Synod has the unenviable task of representing modernity to attract people to its cause, and working with the traditionalists. In an attempt to keep the Church unified, the politics of personalities, cultures, and countries under a Unified Church has come before the people it serves.
No Women Bishops

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2012
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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique.