The women bishops debate was the big one- it had to be extended into the afternoon session, and in all took 4 and a half hours to deal with no less than nine amendments and arrive at a conclusion.
Synod begins each day with worship and today, fittingly, we sang that ancient hymn to the Holy Spirit: 'come Holy Ghost our hearts inspire, and lighten with celestial fire.'
By the end of the debate there was a large majority for the way forward. There is a huge amount of work to be done but agreement on a number of key principles: that it is the clear will of a majority of the church that there should be women bishops, that we needed to proceed quickly (or as quickly as our procedures will permit) and that there should be an honoured and continuing place in the church for those loyal Anglicans who for reasons of conscience cannot accept the ministry of women bishops.
I am cutting a very long story short. I could tell you about option one, two, three or four. I could even tell you about option 1.7 and the Bishop of Willesden's 'cunning plan' but its getting late and I suspect you have other things you need to be getting on with..
After a 15 min refreshment break we reconvened in the Central Hall to hear the Diocese Commision's plan to dissolve three Yorkshire diocese (Ripon & Leeds, Bradford & Wakefield) and create one new diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, centred on Leeds. Geographically and in terms of the Church's mission it made great sense, not least because the city of Leeds, England's third largest city, is currently split between four different diocese.
But there is a snag.
Three years of painstaking consultation had resulted in the plan's enthusiastic reception by two of the Diocese, and its very firm rejection, by the third, Wakefield.
It was now up to the Synod to make the final decision. Should a diocese be forced to dissolve against ist will, asked a number of speakers, but many others, including the Archbishop of York, argued acceptance of the plan, which in the end was overwhelmingly passed by the Synod. Tough for Wakefield, but it seemed overall to be better for the church across the whole of West Yorkshire to have this new structure.
Next up was financial business, mainly adjourned until after dinner, when we met again at 8.30pm. The Archbishops Council runs the national church structures and pays for the training of ordinands (its single largest item of expenditure at £13m). After questions to the chair of the Council's Finance Committee we then proceeded to approve the five items of the budget for the year. And that is how, in three minutes, we spent £29 million.
We weren't quite finished though because Archbishop Justin came to the microphone to warmly thank the retiring chair of the Archbishops Council's Finance Committee, Andrew Britton. The excellent Andrew, a member of our own diocese and a Reader at St Margaret's, Chipstead received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Synod, for his hard work, his vision for the mission of the church, and the efficient, courteous and compassionate way he has discharged his duties. A real servant of the church.
Next up was a farewell to the retiring Bishop of Exeter before we came at 9.30pm, to the annual report of the Church Commissioners who manage the £5bn investment fund of the Church of England, using it to support parish ministry in tough places, assist clergy pensions, and, increasingly, to fund research into church growth. Once again there was the opportunity to ask questions.
And after that, it was time to call it day.
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