The ordinance to permit lay persons and deacons in the Diocese of Sydney to celebrate the Eucharist [TLC, Nov. 7] was not approved by the Most Rev. Harry Goodhew, Archbishop of Sydney. Both houses of the diocesan synod had approved the measure, which would have been in effect for five years. The archbishop then had 28 days to assent to it or to decline.

Archbishop Goodhew said that as he gave the ordinance considerable thought, three matters emerged as the most important in reaching his decision - the strength of the vote in favor of the ordinance, his role as a bishop, and the impact of his decision on the Anglican Church of Australia and the wider Anglican Communion.

"No bishop can ignore the opinion of his synod so strongly expressed," Archbishop Goodhew said. "It certainly has great weight with me ...

"Though elected as the bishop of this diocese, I am bound to uphold the constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia," he added. "I am bound to ask whether this ordinance is one which a single diocese can validly make."

The archbishop said correspondence and phone calls convinced him that whatever decision was made, it would "have a significant impact." He said to act unilaterally and without wide consultation would undermine his credibility concerning other issues in which he engaged in dialogue with Anglicans in other parts of the Communion.

"Archbishop Goodhew's decision is for the good of the Diocese of Sydney, the whole Anglican Church of Australia and the worldwide Anglican Communion," said the Most Rev. Keith Rayner, Archbishop of Melbourne and primate of the Australian church. "If lay presidency had been permitted, the Sydney diocese would have been isolated. It would have represented a major challenge to the constitution and the unity of the Anglican Church."