Proposals to consecrate women bishops in the Church of England could fall at the last hurdle as church members take fright at the prospect of mass defections among the clergy, The Times has learnt.

Sources at the General Synod, which began meeting in York last night to discuss the ordination of women bishops, predicted that many lay members would try to scupper the move in an attempt to preserve the unity of the Church.

The 207 lay members of the synod have traditionally been the most conservative house of all. The 205 clergy are less conservative than the laity, but more so than the bishops, who are dominated by the Church’s liberal wing. The debate on women bishops, which takes place this morning, with the vote on Monday, threatens to divide the Church more deeply than the ordination of women priests or the conflict over homosexuality.

Already the debate has generated rancour in the Church, with traditionalists on the Anglo-Catholic wing demanding that an extra-geographical diocese be made a “safe haven” from women bishops, and threatening a walkout of 1,333 clergy, of whom 60 per cent are still serving.

Times Archive, 1980: Keep a sense of humour, Queen tells the C of E

"There are some subjects about which it is hard to be humourous or joyful", the Queen said

Related Links

• Archbishop cites Bible in defence of gay sex

• Church in meltdown over gays and women

The Archishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu, are so concerned that they have argued strongly for legislative protection for traditionalists rather than a voluntary code of practice. They were outvoted by the 51 other bishops who do not want discrimination against women enshrined in the Church’s legislation and want a measure to consecrate women with a voluntary code of practice to protect traditionalists.

Watch, the group set up to campaign for women bishops, said that it would rather have no women bishops at all than legislated protection for Anglo-Catholics. Evangelicals, who have grown in influence in the past three decades and are strongly represented among the lay members, take a similar view to Anglo-Catholics but do not want them to stage a walkout.

Evangelicals are already angry that they have been denied an opportunity to debate a Private Member’s Motion about the “uniqueness of Christ” in a multicultural society. The motion had enough signatures to merit a debate but was ruled out by church leaders who said that there was not enough time.

There is suspicion behind the scenes that the debate was prevented to avoid embarrassing Britain’s Muslim community and other faiths by having the established Church issue a call to evangelise or convert them. Failure to go ahead with women bishops could plunge the Church into crisis, risking mockery from a secular world baffled by the Church’s stance.

Ironically, as hundreds of priests prepare to leave over the issue, the Church will also launch a recruitment campaign this weekend.

The Archbishop of York will deliver a presidential address today. The synod will also debate internal matters such as clergy pensions and the role of lay worshippers who qualify as “readers”, allowing them to preach sermons and read lessons in services.

From tourism to the price of a funeral . . .

Sunday
The General Synod will debate church tourism and conservation along with climate change. The Archbishop of Canterbury, below, has decided to give up air travel for a year, as did the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, last year. The synod will also discuss a report, Four Funerals and a Wedding, about fees paid to clergy for weddings and funerals

Monday
The synod will discuss how unity talks with the Methodist Church are going and the progress of a document under which the Anglican and the Methodist churches have moved closer together but not yet embraced full unity. In the afternoon, the crucial votes on how to proceed on the question of women bishops will be taken

Tuesday
The synod will debate “governance” and try to reach an understanding of how the various Anglican leadership bodies, such as the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, the primates and the synod itself can work together more effectively