The archbishop of York, John Sentamu, used to say that the Church of England was a bulldozer with the engine of a lawnmower, but I prefer to think of it as a diplodocus with the digestion of a rabbit. (This zoological diversity is surely what's meant by Anglican comprehensiveness.) Two small pellets have now emerged from the House of Bishops' deliberations about women.
One restates an almost incomprehensible distinction between the legal authority of a bishop (which may be delegated) and the theological authority, which may not. This would make more sense if the conservatives thought that female clergy had any theological authority at all.
Read Full Article »