This week the introduction of women bishops into the Church of England seemed to move a step closer after the General Synod overwhelmingly offered its support to a compromise plan on the issue.

|TOP|Thursday at the Synod saw discussions continue, and a debate led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams result in just one member of the Church’s ruling body stand in opposition to proposals that could see women bishops introduced by 2012.

Overall, 348 members of the Synod backed the call for “further exploration” of the compromise proposal issued by Dr Williams. Therefore, the Church will now undertake further investigations of how exactly the proposals to allow parishes to opt-out of the care of women bishops can be implemented.

The proposed scheme has been titled Transferred Episcopal Arrangements (TEA), and is seen as a compromise that will welcome women bishops without completely isolating those against the plans.

Dr Williams, the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, told that the Church was in “uncharted territory”, but that keeping the status quo was not an option.

He continued, “We are all in schism, as somebody said many years ago. It is not a question of legislating for schism or providing for schism or whatever - we are there already.

|QUOTE|“A question is how we handle it prayerfully, mindfully and decently, and, I would add, hopefully.”

Anglicans in Canada, the United States and New Zealand already have women bishops, but the Church of England is still debating the issue.

However, the Synod’s youngest member, Emma Forward, 21 from Exeter, spoke out against women bishops. Forward made a call for the younger generation not to be forgotten in discussions over the Church's future.

|AD|She explained, “It must be long-lasting, not something to keep the traditionalists quiet until they all die out.”

A general debate was held in the Synod, followed by voting on the six proposed amendments to the motion, although many of which were minor alterations to the wording. All six, though, were defeated in a series of votes.

The second-most senior member of the Church, Archbishop of York, Rev John Sentamu, spoke out against changes, as he said they would cause confusion. He simply said: “Let's get on with this.”

Despite the resounding victory for the proposals to go ahead, the plans were attacked earlier on in the week by some members of the Synod. Various supporters of women bishops spoke out saying that TEA would legally enforce discrimination against women and would have the effect of undermining the authority of a bishop.

Also speaking out against the proposals, was the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales expressed “disappointment” about the move on the grounds that it will damage talks about unity between the two churches.