Church of England: Philip Giddings survives lay vote

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The chair of the Church of England’s House of Laity, Dr Philip Giddings, has won a controversial vote to remove him from the position.

Lay members gathering at Church House in Westminster, central London, this afternoon debated whether Dr Giddings was fit to represent them after he took a strong stance against women bishops legislation in last November’s General Synod debate.

The legislation to allow women into the episcopate secured the required two-thirds majority among bishops and clergy, but was six votes short in the House of Laity.

Some lay members suggested Dr Giddings’ speech to Synod, in which he suggested the traditionalist minority would be excluded from the Church, had unfairly swayed wavering members into voting down the legislation.

Other lay members questioned whether there was a conflict of interest between Dr Giddings’ role as chair of the House of Laity and his involvement in traditionalist groups like GAFCON and Anglican Mainstream.

Timothy Allen, of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, said: “This is not a healthy situation. “

Canon Stephen Barney, who brought the motion of no confidence against Dr Giddings, said the defeat of the women bishops legislation had “injured the reputation and mission of our church”.

“I feel deeply ashamed of this,” he said.

Mr Barney accused Dr Giddings of being “partisan and narrow” during the General Synod debate and, with the majority of dioceses supporting women bishops, suggested he no longer had the authority and respect of the House to act and speak on its behalf.