Church of England gay marriage vote thrown into chaos
The Church of England's crucial vote on gay marriage has been thrown into doubt after the Bishop of Coventry admitted he accidentally voted against the report and several others may have made the same mistake.
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The Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth apologised for the mistake last night, which he said was because of "a moment of distraction and some confusion over the voting process".
The bishop insisted that he did in fact support the report written by his colleagues and was "embarrassed" to have accidentally rejected it.
It has since emerged that some members have suggested that clergy had made the same mistake.
Rev Peter Ould said on Facebook that he had heard from other synod members who had also voted "no" incorrectly.
Other members said that they had voted the wrong way because they thought they were voting on a point of procedure, and not the actual debate.
Prominent Anglican blogger Archbishop Cramner tweeted: "If a bishop can do it, so can four members of clergy. How precarious is digital democracy."
The technical problems raise questions about whether the vote, which was only lost by seven votes in the house of clergy, can stand.
However, a spokesman for the Church of England said: "We are not aware of any members of the House of Clergy reporting inadvertently voting for the option they did not intend during the take note debate on GS2055.
"There are no procedures under the Standing Orders to withdraw or change a vote on a Synod motion once cast."
The report, which was rejected last night after the House of Clergy voted against it by 100 votes to 93, said that the Church should preserve current teaching on gay marriage, which says that marriage is between one man and one woman and gay couples cannot marry in church.
Members of the general synod, which is the Church of England's general assembly, take votes using a hand-held device which has three buttons - one which means approval, one which means rejection and a third which means abstention.
The other two houses of the Synod, bishops and laity, both voted to "take note" of the report. But there was surprise when it was revealed that one bishop had voted against it.
Sources said they believed the rejection came from the more liberal members of the clergy who thought the Church should ultimately drop its opposition to gay marriage.
Members said it was “grudging and condescending”, “divorced from reality” and made the Church look “unkind” and homophobic.
In a statement, Bishop Christopher admitted to being the dissenter and said: "Much to my embarrassment, I have managed to give the impression that there was not complete agreement in the House of Bishops that the Report provided us with the best way forward.
"Due to a moment of distraction and some confusion over the voting process, I pressed the wrong button on my handset, thus registering a vote against taking note rather than a vote for taking note of the Report!
"I have apologised to my colleagues in the House of Bishops and to the Archbishops for my mistake."
Credit: telegraph.co.uk
