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Welsh church quashes plan for ecumenical bishop
2002-223-5
10/1/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
A long-standing plan to create an ecumenical bishop to serve several denominations in Wales has been vetoed by the (Anglican) Church in Wales, despite support by the church's bishops and other denominations.
The proposal, which would have had the bishop belonging equally to each of the denominations supporting it, was approved by the governing body of the Church in Wales by 137 votes to 106, but failed to gain the required two-thirds majority.
The ecumenical bishop would have served an area of east Cardiff, where two local ecumenical projects have been operating since 1991, joining the Church in Wales, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and the Covenanted Baptist Church. 'People are very hurt and angry, and enormously surprised because the bishops were expected to carry the day,' said a senior church figure speaking to ENI on condition of anonymity. East Cardiff is in the Monmouth Anglican diocese of Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury-designate, and the result could be regarded as a setback for him.
John Davies, bishop of St. Asaph, who is responsible within the Church in Wales for inter-church relations, expressed disappointment. 'Had this gone ahead, it would have represented a significant step forward in ecumenical relations, in both practical ways and in terms of leading the way in ecumenical developments for the rest of the world,' he said.
Stuart Jackson of the United Reformed Church's national synod of Wales said the synod was saddened and 'sorry for those in east Cardiff who feel let down.' He added, 'Now is not the time for recriminations, but for reflection on what the future may hold. We journey on in the hope that the vision will not be lost.'
The churches had been working on plans for the ecumenical bishop post for several years. Within the Anglican church, opposition is understood to have come from 'high church' (Anglo-Catholic) figures fearful that the post would be a back door for the creation of women bishops. However, the first bishop would have been a man, because the Church in Wales does not consecrate women as bishops.
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