This page is hosted at St Peter's, Eastern Hill by permission of the co-Chair of the General Synod Working Group on Women Bishops and the General Synod Office, Sydney		Women Bishops in Australia? If so, how?
Interim report home page How the options were developed Summary of the options   Option One Option Two Option Three Option Four   Your Response - have your say!     Download the full report (374K) in Acrobat format Back to St Peter's Home Page		A summary of the Interim Report of the General Synod Working Group on Women Bishops (August 1999) Introduction After the controversy which surrounded the ordination of women as deacons and priests, the 1998 General Synod called for a thorough discussion about the consecration of women bishops and forms of alternative episcopal oversight for those who oppose their consecration before any formal proposals were brought to synods. The General Synod Standing Committee now offers the national church the first draft proposals. The Standing Committee's working group has prepared a wide range of Options, to enable the fullest possible exploration of the issues involved. This is the first stage of national discussion. After the feedback from this stage is analysed, a final report will go to the April meeting of Standing Committee. Formal proposals will then go to Diocesan synods during 2000 for their response in advance of the 2001 General Synod. All Australian Anglicans are invited to participate in this important first stage discussion at many levels - from individuals to parishes to interest groups, to diocesan standing committees/bishops-in-council, and synods (though we ask for informal responses only from synods at this stage). Please read the Options carefully and let us know what you think. Questions you may like to respond to are included at the end of this summary. Succinct responses in the manner indicated will help our task enormously. Please send email responses to: womenbishops@fc.accnet.net.au or post responses to: Dr Muriel Porter, c/- General Synod Office PO Box Q190 QVB Post Office NSW 1230 by 15 November 1999 We thank you for your interest, in anticipation of an inclusive, constructive and prayerful national conversation. May our sense of unity and mission deepen and grow as a result of this process. A copy of the full report explaining the Options in detail (the published report can be copied freely) is available on-line (size: 374K) and is viewable using Adobe Acrobat (see below for a browser). Alternatively for the cost of copying and postage it is available from: General Synod Office PO Box Q190 QVB Post Office NSW 1230 Ph: 02 9265 1503; Fax: 02 9264 6552 Email : research@anglican.org.au   [an error occurred while processing this directive] Page last modified on Friday August 20, 1999
		Have your say on the options for women bishops in Australia
		This page is hosted at St Peter's Eastern Hill by permission of the co-chair of the General Synod Working Group on Women Bishops and the General Synod Office, Sydney Authorised by the Vicar (vicar@stpeters.org.au) Maintained by the Editor (editor@stpeters.org.au) © 1999 General Synod of The Anglican Church of Australia