Protocol: GS 1557
Author/editor(s): Church of England House of Bishops
Publisher: London: Church House Publishing
Creation: 2004 (The date of original creation or publication, if known)

Persistent link: https://iarccum.org/doc/2144 (Please use this permanent URL in your publications and bookmarks to link to this document. The files linked below may be modified, but this record will remain at this location.)

The Rochester Report was commissioned by the General Synod of the Church of England and received in 2005 It was officially titled Women Bishops in the Church of England? (GS 1557), and consisted of a comprehensive 302-page theological and legal study published in 2004 by a working party of the House of Bishops, sometimes called the Rochester Commission, because it was chaired by the bishop of Rochester, Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali.

Unlike many synodical reports, the Rochester Report intentionally refrained from making a definitive recommendation for or against the ordination of women to the episcopate. Instead, it served as a “resource for the whole Church,” meticulously mapping out the scriptural, tradition-based, and ecumenical arguments surrounding the issue. The report famously explored the concept of “reception” — the idea that a change in practice is subject to a period of testing by the wider Church — and laid out various legislative “options” for moving forward, ranging from a simple removal of legal barriers to the creation of separate structural provisions for those unable to accept the sacramental validity of women bishops. It remains a foundational document for understanding the internal Anglican tensions and the broader ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches during that era.