The House of Bishops is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of the tricameral

Church of England General Synod The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

legislature. It consists of all 42 Diocesan Bishops of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

's Provinces of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

as well as nine elected

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

s. This is not to be confused with the

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

, the most senior bishops in the Church of England sitting in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

''.

Duties and membership

The House of Bishops holds a veto power in the General Synod along with the

House of Clergy The House of Clergy is the middle house in the tricameral Church of England General Synod legislature. It consists of representatives of the ordained clergy of the Church of England. Composition The House of Clergy comprises ordained members o ...

and the

House of Laity The House of Laity is the lower house in the tricameral General Synod of the Church of England legislature. They are responsible for representing the laity of the Church of England in the legislature. They are indirectly elected every 5 years by me ...

. An example of this was when the house vetoed a proposal allowing same-sex couples to receive blessings in

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

es. The House of Bishops also have distinct responsibilities in the General Synod. The House of Bishops meets twice in between Synod sessions. Any measure affecting Church of England services or administration of the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

s also require final approval from the House of Bishops in addition to passing through the usual General Synod legislative procedure. Under Standing Order 13 (a) of the Standing Orders of the House of Bishops, members of the public may attend meetings of the House provided that enough seating space is available for them to do so. However, under Standing Order 14 (a) of the House of Bishops Standing Orders, the Chair of the House of Bishops may move that the House go into a ‘Committee of the whole House’ which means that members of the public may not attend the meeting. In recent years, it has been the practice of whichever Bishop is chairing the meeting of the House to move Standing Order 14 so that the House may meet as a Committee in private. There is no requirement in Standing Orders for House of Bishops Minutes to be published and there are no plans to change the Standing Orders in order for them to do so. The House of Bishops' membership comprises all 42 of the Church of England's diocesan bishops, including the extraprovincial

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Peel Cathedral, Cath ...

and

Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe The Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, commonly known as the Bishop in Europe, is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese in Europe in the Province of Canterbury. Overview The diocese provides the ministry of Anglican chaplains, not only i ...

Suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

s are also represented via the

Bishop of Dover The Bishop of Dover is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dover in Kent. The Bishop of Dover holds the additional title of "Bishop i ...

, acting as episcopal oversight on behalf of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

in the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England. The ''Report ...

, the

Bishop to the Forces The Anglican church in the British Armed Forces falls under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury; however, for all practical purposes the function is performed by the Bishop to the Forces. His full title is "The Archbishop of Canterbur ...

and nine suffragan bishops elected by their fellow suffragan bishops. In 2013, it was announced that eight female clergy would be elected regionally to take part in the House of Bishops' meetings as participant observers ahead of legislation to allow

women bishops The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordin ...

. These participant observers would remain a part of the House of Bishops until the House gained at least six female members. Six elected female suffragan bishops and the four

Provincial Episcopal Visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

s are entitled to attend and speak but not vote. Bishops may hold their seat until they reach the age of 70, when they are obliged to step down as that is the retirement age for Church of England bishops.

Participant observers

From 1 December 2013 until 30 November 2016, eight "participant observers", each elected by and from among the female "senior priests" of a specific region, attended meetings of the House of Bishops. The eight first elected were: #

Viv Faull Vivienne Frances Faull (born 20 May 1955) is a British Anglican bishop and Lord Spiritual. Since 2018, she has served as the Bishop of Bristol. In 1985, she was the first woman to be appointed chaplain to an Oxbridge college. She was later a cat ...

Dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

(North East region) #

Annette Cooper Annette Joy Cooper (born 15 November 1953) is a retired British Church of England priest. She was the Archdeacon of Colchester (in the Diocese of Chelmsford) from 2004 until 2018. Early life Cooper was born on 15 November 1953, the daughter of H ...

Archdeacon of Colchester The Archdeacon of Colchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Chelmsford – she or he has responsibilities within her archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of Colchester) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...

(East Anglia region) #

Rachel Treweek Rachel Treweek (née Montgomery; born 4 February 1963 at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire) is an Anglican bishop who sits in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. Since June 2015, she has served as Bishop of Gloucester, the first female diocesan bi ...

Archdeacon of Hackney The Archdeacon of Hackney is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of London. As such, he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its three area deaneries: Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets. ...

(South East region) #

Nicola Sullivan Nicola Ann Sullivan (born 15 August 1958) is a British Church of England priest. She is the current dean of Southwell and previously Archdeacon of Wells Early life and education Sullivan was brought up in Suffolk. She qualified as a nurse in 198 ...

Archdeacon of Wells The Archdeacon of Wells has been a senior clergy position in the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells sin the English reformation, before which it was part of the Roman Catholic Church. The post, having oversight over the archdeaconry of We ...

(South West region) # Christine Wilson,

Archdeacon of Chesterfield The Archdeacon of Chesterfield was a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Derby until 2022. Until 1927 the archdeaconry of Chesterfield was in the diocese of Southwell. The Archdeacon was responsible for the disciplinary supervisio ...

(East Midlands region) #

Joanne Grenfell Joanne Woolway Grenfell (born 27 May 1972) is a bishop of the Church of England serving as Bishop of Stepney, an area bishop of the Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in Englan ...

Archdeacon of Portsdown The archdeacons in the Diocese of Portsmouth are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. They currently include: the archdeacon of The Meon, the archdeacon of the Isle of Wight and the ...

(South and Central region) #Jane Tillier, Diocesan Adviser for Women in Ministry,

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

(West Midlands region) # Libby Lane, Dean of Women in Ministry (later Bishop suffragan of Stockport),

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

(North West region) During the period of this arrangement, two casual vacancies arose: *After Treweek began to sit (following the 15 June 2015 confirmation of her election) in the House by right as Bishop of Gloucester,

Rosemary Lain-Priestley Rosemary Jane Lain-Priestley (born 1967) is a Church of England priest and former Archdeacon for the Two Cities. Early life and education She was born in 1967 in Lancashire, England. She was educated at the University of Kent and worked as an imm ...

, Associate Archdeacon of London, was elected to succeed her representing the South East region.WATCH — A Report on the Developments in Women's Ministry in 2015
(Accessed 19 February 2016) *When, in October 2015, Lane was elected to the House as a representation suffragan, her seat for the North West fell vacant. It was announced in June 2016 that the "participant observers" arrangement would be replaced from 1 December 2016 with an arrangement whereby six female bishops suffragan would be "

iven Iven is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Notable residents *Georg Detlev von Flemming Georg Detlev von Flemming (Polish: Jerzy Detloff Fleming) (3 March 1699 – 10 December 1771) was a ...

rights of attendance".Church of England General Synod — House of Bishops summary of decisions, June 2016 (GS Misc 1144)
(Accessed 30 June 2016)

References

{{Reflist, 30em Church of England

Duties and membership

Participant observers

See also

References