Saturday 28 July 2012

Alternative Provision

My idea for the provision of other oversight for women to be bishops in the church of England. This is a straight question: what is wrong with this?

A parochial church council may issue a Letters of Request to the diocesan bishop according to the diocesan scheme put in place by the diocesan bishop using best practice as built upon in the Church of England. Such a scheme can therefore be updated for improvement.

On receiving the Letter, the diocesan bishop should use the diocesan scheme already in place.

This means that, at a minimum, he or she should consult the parochial church council about its concerns in relation to the celebration of the sacraments and other divine service and the provision of pastoral care. Other processes and consulations may be involved.

Taking the expressed concerns into account, the diocesan bishop delegates another bishop to carry out all leadership and pastoral functions to the parish in his or her expectation of suitability. A trial period may be involved followed by further consultation with the diocesan bishop. The diocesan bishop also has the right to replace such a choice subsequently after further consultation.

Such an additional bishop is not required to subscribe to any statement of faith beyond what all bishops have to affirm when making the Declaration of Assent. The additional bishop in position should take account of diocesan policies and decisions, and hold meetings with the diocesan bishop, but is free to exercise the derived powers of being a bishop in respect of the parishes under the diocesan bishop's delegated care.

The additional bishop chosen must be from the Church of England and be either a diocesan bishop from another diocese, a suffragan bishop of the diocese, a suffragan bishop of another diocese, an assistant bishop of the diocese who is a member of the House of Bishops of the diocesan synod of the diocese; or an assistant bishop of another diocese of the Church of England who is a member of the House of Bishops of the diocesan synod of that other diocese.

The idea is that all the power to decide is with the diocesan bishop. Conservative Evangelicals are not allowed to circumvent this, and they get their bishop with derived powers on the same basis as others. In practical terms the bishop with oversight is the one the opting-out parish consults, but this bishop is always ultimately delegated from above.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You really do love talking about Anglicans don't you?