Yesterday General Synod voted to proceed with appointing women bishops with minimal accommodations for those clergy who are opposed to the move. Proposals for superbishops and separate structures for those who cannot accept women as bishops were rejected.

There will be plenty of comment elsewhere, and I know that members and supporters of Sophia will have different views on whether this is a good move or not. What challenges me most about the whole gender debate in the church is that committed Christians can read the same passages of the Bible and can come to very different conclusions about what they say about the roles of men and women. I'm not talking about the people who blindly accept the view that their church promotes without thinking it through; i mean the people who genuinely want to know God's heart on the issue, who study the Bible and pray and yet have very different understandings. How does that work? They can't both be right.

What is important going forward is that both 'sides' continue to talk and to try and understand each other. We will gain nothing if people become more and more entrenched in their views and don't do the hard work of reconciliation and understanding.

Update: AsboJesus has a thoughtful cartoon on this topic. Full-size version here.

Photo: dengski