Twitter conversation: Re #Synod

Twitter conversation: @O...D... How many #Synod members does it take to change a lightbulb? - CHANGE???! @A…….. What's a lightbulb? @C….A…... #synod might sit in dark & not change lightbulb - debating type and size of candle acceptable for non lightbulb users @O...D... That may not be too far from the truth!

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR DIOCESAN BISHOP 21 November 2012 - In response to General Synod

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR DIOCESAN BISHOP 21 November 2012 - In response to General Synod Dear Bishop Peter A deep sadness… but also a very thin wearing of patience is where I stand at present following yesterday's vote. The over riding will of the Church has been frustrated by the unrepresentative House of Laity. There will be women whose full gifts are not able to be delighted in by the church in a way they might have done - just when in South Africa a Woman Bishop is consecrated. But above all I do feel the need to share the feeling that in the long long process of dialogue my patience and that of many others is wearing thin. We have walked a journey of goodwill and compromise with resolutions A, B and C available - we have attempted to compromise over Women Bishops. But still the minority stick out for an uncertain more. Meanwhile small parishes with resolutions force benefices that would rejoice in a female incumbent not to have one - and I know that the patience of the real 'laos' (as distinct from the House of Laity) is very tried by that limitation. In terms of the Mennonite ways of approaching conflict of which we spoke the other week it is as if we have been walking the route of taking the issue and the relationship seriously - working the time consuming route of seeking the win-win solution only to find that for a significant enough few the path that they have been walking is all about the issue and they do not value the relationship as much. Today it is not only women with gifts for ministry and leadership in the church who feel hurt but also all those of us who have tried to walk the extra mile with those with whom we disagree. We who now find that their actions and voting imply that they do not respect or value those with whom they disagree as much as we have valued and will continue to try to value them. Our missional credibility, many of our ministers and our unity all suffer as a result of yesterday. In this context the role of any Bishop is unenviable. Be assured of our prayers