No Women Bishops

In a positive development, Governing Body of the Anglican Church in Wales failed to pass a bill that would have allowed women to become bishops, according to the TimesOnline. From a human perspective, changes in the church occur in this way one decision at time. In this case courageous complementarian priests, guided by conscience and the clear teaching of scripture, stood firm to preserve the Anglican Church in Wales from error. Only God at this point knows how long this situation will endure.

Egalitarian Anglicans in favor of women bishops were quick to respond with a plan to revisit the issue as soon as possible:  Canon Mary Stallard, chaplain to the Bishop of St Asaph, said: "The moment will come back. We are very disappointed. It is not totally unexpected. But we are looking forward to bringing it back. This issue will not be ignored."

Dr. Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales who proposed the bill, was disappointed that it did not pass. He said, "The same thing happened over the ordination of women to the priesthood 11 years ago. That later went through at the second attempt. It is an issue that is not going to go away or be ignored."

Once a denomination adopts a hermeneutic that allows 1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man" to be implemented as, "I do permit a woman to teach and exercise authority over a man," then biblical authority and guidance by truth is lost. Accordingly, Morgan said that after the ordination of women priests he did not see how the church could "logically exclude women" from the episcopate. "That is why I and my fellow bishops will be asking members of the Governing body to vote in favor of the bill,"  he said.

London's Putney Vicar Giles Fraser, was even more stark: "It's an absolute disgrace. If women are good enough to be priests they are good enough to be bishops. Anything other than this is a theological nonsense." Women bishops are permitted in the Anglican churches of Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

The Governing body consists of the Laity (non-clerical representatives who vote first), the Clergy (clerical representatives who vote second) and the Bench of Bishops (six diocesan bishops who have the final vote on every measure). The bill accepting women as bishops was passed overwhelmingly by 52 votes to 19 by the laity. But in the clergy it passed by a mere 27 votes to 18, leaving it three votes short of the two-thirds majority it needed to become canon law.

Please pray for the Anglican Church in Wales, thanking God for this small victory and asking that the church be preserved from error. As a complementarian, please stand firm for biblical manhood and womanhood in the sphere of influence where God has placed you in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.