Members of the General Synod backed a motion on Friday welcoming a joint report published last year, which sets out proposals on how clergy from each church could become eligible to serve in the other.
The report, Mission and Ministry in Covenant, which was co-written by the two churches’ faith and order bodies, also sets out how the Methodist Church could come to have bishops in the historic episcopate.
The motion acknowledges that there is further work to do to clarify a number of areas, including how the proposals would be worked out in practice.
It also calls on the Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission to update Synod at its next group of sessions in July on this work.
But an amendment to the motion speaks of “confident hope” that outstanding issues can be resolved quickly.
Speaking during the debate the Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury said: “I want to support this motion very strongly indeed.
“It seems to me that in voting for it we respond to the word of God in the scriptures where there is a clear command to unity in diversity and in responding to this paper positively we respond to the Spirit who is already working in both of our Churches bringing us together.”
General Synod February 2018
Opening the debate, Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth , Bishop of Coventry,…
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