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Embattled Archbishop urges synod to behave like children of Christ
The Archibishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, described the Church of England as the "wounded people of Christ"
By Ruth Gledhill
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/faith/article2639141.ece
July 11 2010
The embattled Archbishop of York today described the Church of England as the "wounded people of Christ" and urged battling members of the General Synod to behave like the children of Christ.
"We must be prepared to help others even when they have brought their troubles on themselves," said Dr John Sentamu in a sermon at York Minster, hours after he and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, suffered one of the most humiliating defeats of recent Church history after proposals to create a "church within a church" for those opposed to women bishops was thrown out.
The General Synod, meeting in York, voted narrowly on Saturday against a proposal by the two Archbishops to create a new type of bishop to care for opponents of women's ordination in the Church of England when women are consecrated bishops.
Critics said that the Archbishops' plans would have fatally undermined the oversight of women bishops. Some women would have refused to become bishops, had their ministry been so compromised, the synod heard.
The motion was passed by bishops and laity. Bishops had been expected to rebel but, surprisingly, the motion failed because the clergy voted against by 90 to 85, with five abstentions.
The strength of rebellion by the bishops, with 15 voting against and 25 in favour, was large enough to raise concerns inside the synod about the authority of the Archbishops. However, significantly, the overall majority of the synod was in favour of the Archbishops' amendment, which would have passed had a vote by houses not been taken.
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