Indymedia York

3 female students dressed as Bishops appeared outside University Central Hall, Monday, to greet members of synod (1/5th of them real Bishops, all male!) as they arrived to take part in this weekend's second debate on the divisive issue. The 3 were members of the Dalek Collective.

The stunt was warmly welcomed by many passing members of synod, and questioned by others. One found the stunt childish, another thought it was pointless given that other recent votes on the issue had overwhelmingly supported such a move by the church; perhaps evidence that the church still doesn't know how to handle a public who are increasingly interested in its diliberation.

In a way, having young people dressed as Women Bishops went nicely with the point made by a Youth Council representative in the Synod debate, saying that many young people cannot remember a time when Women were not Vicars, and failed to understand the current 'stained glass ceiling' which persists, whereby a vicar can get little further.

This protest varied from recent years events: most years bring with them silent vigils by fairly humourless church based issue-groups with a banner or two, but in two recent July Sessions, those outside the church have made their voices heard. In 2003, Gay rights group Outrage stormed the stage, causing a considerable step-up in security that is still being felt, and in 2004, Father's 4 Justice stormed into the Sunday morning service.

This Synod, WATCH (Women And The CHurch) held vigil during both debates concerning the introduction of Women Bishops (of which Monday's was the second). They appeared to welcome the arrival of fresh faces, and rewarded the group with a free t-shirt.