By the Grace of God.....

God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of Christ our saviour.

We have been here before my friends. By the grace of God we are here still. We have seen extraordinary scenes tonight, Archbishops pleading, Bishops demanding concessions for us who we would never have imagined, friends weeping and us, my friends, us being faithful. Do not be despondent. Tomorrow is, by the grace of God, Tuesday in Week 14 of Ordinary Time and there are still the same things to do then as there were yesterday. Again, we have been here before and what has happened tonight? This has happened.

‘That this Synod:

(a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
(b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
(c) affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and
(d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.’

We knew there would be women Bishops and we knew there would be provision made for us, by the grace of God, the same God who has called us here to His Church which I, for one, shall not be abandoning. We are Catholic and we are faithful, therefore we must await the word of our Bishops and we must pray that this provision is as generous as it can be, which with the motion for women Bishops passed, the Archbishops rooting for us and God on our side, it most certainly can be. Nothing is over. Nothing is lost forever. If anything, if I may say to the many hundreds who read this blog today, stay faithful and bless the Lord, for He is the only one who can redeem us. The Scriptures still stand, the Church still stands if we provide the backbone. This could yet be our finest hour and our time to show our faithfulness. February is a long time away and there is still everything left to pray for. More tomorrow, for all of us. Satan is still stalking the earth for the ruin of souls and we have still not yet brought about the Kingdom. Keep going. Keep waiting, even as long as the prophets of old.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel : for He hath visited, and redeemed His people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us : in the house of His servant David;
As He spake by the mouth of His holy Prophets : which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies : and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers : and to remember His holy covenant;
To perform the oath which He sware to our forefather Abraham : that He would give us,
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies : might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him : all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto His people : for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God : whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death : and to guide our feet into the way of peace.