This week the Church of England’s General Synod has voted to fast-track the legislative process which would allow women to be appointed as bishops. Usually local dioceses have six months to approve changes to church law, but in this instance they will have just three, paving the way for the first woman bishop to be in post by the end of the year.
However, the proceedings started rather awkwardly when the Bible passage. which happened to be that day’s lectionary reading. conveyed a message that was utterly at odds with the goal of elevating women to leadership roles within the church. It went something like this:
