Church of England not dead after women bishops vote, says John Sentamu The Archbishop of York insisted today that the Church of England had "not committed suicide" after moves to introduce women bishops were rejected in the General Synod. John Sentamu, the second most senior bishop in the Church, admitted it was "very disappointing" that the draft legislation failed to clear its final hurdle. It was carried in the houses of bishops and clergy in the General Synod, but failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority amongst lay members But Dr Sentamu insisted the Church was not "dead" and maintained that the principle of female bishops had been accepted. "This morning people have been saying 'the Church has committed suicide, the Church is dead'," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Well, dead people don't converse. We have been conversing, we have not committed suicide at all, we are very much living. This morning in the General Synod we are debating two important issues - the living wage and youth unemployment. That's not a dead Church. Dr Sentamu said he was confident there would be women bishops in his lifetime, suggesting that revised legislation would receive the necessary support to be passed. "The principle has already been accepted by the General Synod, it has already been accepted by all the dioceses," he said. So what we need to do is find the legislation - 99.9% of the legislation is there, it's this little business of provision for those who are opposed. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams will make a statement today after an emergency meeting of the Church of England bishops following the narrow defeat. If six people had changed their vote from no to yes in the House of Laity the legislation would have received the necessary two-thirds majority in all three houses of the General Synod. The vote was billed as the biggest in the 20 years since the General Synod backed the introduction of women priests in 1992 and comes after 42 out of the 44 dioceses of the Church of England approved the legislation. If the measure had received final approval, it would have gone to the Houses of Parliament before royal assent with the first female bishops on course to be appointed as early as 2014. The result is a blow to Dr Williams and his successor, the Rt Rev Justin Welby, who staked their authority on a yes vote. Speaking afterwards, Dr Williams, who leaves his post at the end of this year after a decade in office, spoke of his "deep personal sadness" at the result. He said he wished Bishop Welby "every blessing" in resolving the issue. He said: "Of course I hoped and prayed that this particular business would be at another stage before I left, and of course it is a personal sadness, a deep personal sadness, that that is not the case. I can only wish the synod and the archbishop all good things and every blessing with resolving this in the shortest possible time. Around a third of Church of England clergy are women, and they make up just under a half of those training for ordination. Women and the Church (Watch), the campaigning group, said the result was a "devastating blow" to the Church of England. The Rev Rachel Weir, Watch chairman, said: "This is a tragic day for the Church of England after so many years of debate and after all our attempts at compromise. Despite this disappointing setback, Watch will continue to campaign for the full acceptance of women's gifts of leadership in the Church's life. But the Rev Prebendary Rod Thomas, a vicar in Plymouth and chairman of the conservative evangelical grouping Reform, which recommended a no vote, said: "My overall conclusion is that it is very good news for the Church of England. We have avoided what could have been a disastrous mistake for our unity and witness.