The Church of England Approves Women as Bishops at the General Synod

The Church of England's national assembly, known as the General Synod, has approved the historic measure to allow women to enter its top ranks as bishops!

The Church voted this decision at its meeting in York today, according to UK media.

The measure had the support of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Prime Minister David Cameron.

The vote comes two years after similar legislation failed to reach a two-thirds majority among the General Synod's lay members, despite approval from bishops and clergy.


The Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion, which has the largest Christian denomination in Britain and a presence in more than 160 countries.

Jamaican-born Chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin is tipped to become the Church of England’s first female bishop. She had said of the church’s deliberation to give women the opportunity to be bishops;

"It will be a big deal. This has been on the agenda of the Church since the 1920s, from the time of the suffragettes when women were saying actually, we're human beings, we don't want to be patted on the head and told: 'There dear, you'll be alright doing the flowers or making the cups of tea'. "We have gifts and skills and abilities and we want what we have to be placed on the table as well."

According to the Guardian UK, the Church of England has finally agreed that women may become bishops next year, breaking with nearly 2,000 years of tradition and ending 20 years of bitter compromises since women were allowed to become priests in 1994.

Applause in the public gallery greeted the overwhelming vote in favour of the measure. Only 45 lay members of the synod voted against it and 152 in favour. The majorities among bishops and clergy were even greater.

The synod had been threatened with parliamentary action if the measure had failed, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had prepared contingency plans to dissolve it and call fresh elections if the vote had gone the wrong way.

But the crisis was averted by a change of mind, and vote, among lay members. A previous attempt in 2012 failed when 74 lay members voted against, preventing the required two-thirds majority among the laity.

The vote means the first woman might become a suffragan (assistant) bishop early next year and her appointment could be announced before the end of 2014.