When members of the Church of England's General Synod arrived for their meeting at Church House in London Nov. 30, they were confronted by members of Outrage, a gay rights group, carrying banners which named 10 allegedly homosexual bishops.

The Outrage members also handed out a letter which accused the 10 bishops of hypocrisy because some of them have supported the church's ban on gay and lesbian priests and have been involved in their dismissal.

A statement was issued by the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch, chairman of the Church of England Communications Committee, which stated: "We decline to comment on Outrage claims about named individuals. It is not a sin to have a particular sexual orientation, and any allegations about sexual practice deserve no credence unless supported by evidence."

Synod members spent considerable time discussing whether divorced church members should be allowed to remarry in Anglican parish churches.

A motion which sought to clarify the church's position by making it compulsory for clergy to perform marriages for divorced persons was referred to the House of Bishops. An immediate response was not expected.

Synod voted to implement the Howe report on cathedrals, which proposes that cathedral deans and provosts should be answerable to a greater council chaired by the diocesan bishop.

In other business, synod:

• approved two additional eucharistic prayers from the five studied by the House of Bishops last summer;
• heard statistics that 1,380 women have been ordained priests, including 857 into stipendiary ministry;
• learned that 219 members of the clergy have claimed compensation under the Ordination of Women Measure at a cost of nearly 2 million pounds;
• voted to call on the British government to ban the export of anti-personnel mines and to stop selling weapons to countries engaged in aggression.