Church of England votes overwhelmingly for women bishops It became apparent that a breakthrough had been reached when leading figures behind last year's defeat of the women bishops measure, said that they would vote in favour this time because of major progress in behind-the-scenes talks about arrangements for traditionalists who cannot accept women bishops on theological grounds. But as members prepared to take a vote, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, warned members not to open the champagne yet as there are still areas of disagreement to overcome before final approval can be given next year. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Langstaff, who steered the debate joked that his champagne was "still on the rack." Speaking afterwards he denied that calls for Parliament to step in had proved decisive although he acknowledged that "it might have concentrated some minds." But the vote came as David Cameron made clear that he would be open to a change in Parliamentary rules to fast-track future women bishops into the House of Lords. Church's General Synod - what is it for? Bishop Langstaff said that the appointment of the Most Rev Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury last year had been crucial in making progress. But he also singled out the decision to appoint a team of Christian mediators led by Canon David Porter, a Belfast-born cleric whose talks with the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries helped lay the ground for the Peace Process. Exactly a year ago the Church's decision-making body rejected legislation which would have allowed women to become bishops but provided a complex opt-out procedure for traditionalists who can not accept women as bishops on theological grounds. The measure enjoyed overwhelming support in the pews and the Synod vote plunged the Church of England into its biggest crisis of modern times, leading to calls for Parliament to step in. A new package was introduced to the Synod, following intense behind-the-scenes discussions involving conflict mediators, leaders of the main groups behind last year's defeat signalled that they would support the process at this stage. The proposals have been radically cut down. The previous measure required a complex "code of practice" governing how traditionalist parishes in dioceses with a woman bishop would be able to opt out of her authority. Traditionalists said it did not provide enough "protection" for them but supporters of women bishops said it would have made them "second class bishops." This time there will be a simple piece of legislation allowing women to become bishops and archbishops and then a "declaration" that traditionalists should be accommodated for.Decisions on how to do this would be taken locally and there would be an ombudsman, or independent reviewer, to settle any disputes over the arrangements for traditionalists who will not accept the authority of a woman. During the debate Canon Rosie Harper, chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham, said: I would like to take a moment to look at this from the outside in. I would like to name the sheer weirdness of a community arguing about discrimination in the 21st century - people out there don't care enough to be angry but they do dismiss us as weird. If we are serious about our mission, and I know this is a very basic point, we really do have to stop being weird. She said that extensive research showed that young people could still relate to the figure of Jesus but were put off by the Church which appeared to be "always telling people off and rife with discrimination of all sorts." She added: "Stop being weird and vote yes." Speaking afterwards Bishop Langstaff said: "We are very conscious that for a lot in the outside world they cannot see why this is such an issue for us and that's a reason why we need to make some progress in a fairly expeditious way. Having said that, though this is the area where we've got some divisions, we well know the world outside has its own divisions on all sorts of issues and I dare to believe that the way in which we are approaching this could provide a model for other people of how you live together whether in church or society when you hold deep seated opinions that differ from one another. The process this year has included forcing a group of Anglicans with sharply differing views to stay in a hotel together and thrash out a compromise. Archbishop Sentamu said: "We should not open champagne bottles or whatever drink we are gong to celebrate with because we need to continue to walk together until the end."