News from General Synod July 2014It is with great pleasure that we can report that General Synod at York this July has voted unanimously in favour of both, the Women in Episcopacy legislation and the Magna Carta Resolution. The Magna Carta Resolution was presented by our Lay Chair Keith Malcouronne, supported by Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the Temple, and Bishop Ian. Bishop Christopher Cocksworth of Coventry (one of whose predecessors was one of the witnessing bishops at Runnymede) on Magna Carta: “Magna Carta was all three, a theological document (supremacy of God over human affairs); an ecclesial document (life of the Christian church); and a humanitarian one (dignity of human beings) - 75% of the world’s population today lack the Magna Carta right of individual religious freedom (as subsequently enshrined in Article 18 of the universal declaration of human rights) and over 250 million Christians and others live under the active threat of religious persecution.” Bishop Ian on Women Bishops: “I am delighted that the legislation has been passed, not merely on a personal level, but because I believe it is very good news for the Church. I look forward to the time in the near future when we shall have women as colleagues in the College and House of Bishops and in the House of Lords. This will have a positive effect too, I trust, for the wider Anglican Communion, for once the Church of England moves on something like this, then our sister Provinces that presently do not ordain women as priests and bishops may seriously consider doing so. |