In a surprise move that shocked both sides of a years-long debate, the Church of England on Tuesday (Nov. 20) rejected an expected move to allow women bishops, preserving the church’s status as one of the last bastions of male privilege in the United Kingdom.
Many of the 470 members of the church’s three-tiered General Synod (bishops, clergy and laity) were stunned that the House of Laity couldn’t garner a two-thirds majority in favor of women bishops. The voted failed by just five votes, 132-74, after easily passing the bishops and clergy....