A legislative body of the Church of England voted in favor of allowing female bishops one year after conservatives enforced a previous bill that barred women from joining the clergy.
Members of the General Synod - which includes the bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of England - overwhelmingly supported the new measure, marking this as the first time the ruling group has seriously looked at the option of allowing women to become bishops.
Only eight members voted against the bid, while 378 others were in favor. 25 people abstained.
Members of the body will cast an official vote at a later time, the Telegraph reported.
In 12 months, the church has seen a turnaround that one bishop described as "nothing short of miraculous." Exactly one year after traditional religious leaders shot down a bid to bring in female bishops, many of the same members of the clergy said on Tuesday they would vote in favor of the measure, due to progress in conversations amongst church leaders. Arrangements are reportedly being made for conservative church leaders who refuse to allow women to become bishops.
Chaplan to the Bishop of Buckingham Canon Rosie Harper urged the body to skip the "weirdness" and approve the bid.
"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 weird," she stated. "If we are serious about our mission, and I know this is a very basic point, we really do have to stop being weird...and vote yes."
The Synod proposed a new package on Tuesday that was slimmed down from the previous bid - one that called for a "code of practice" allowing traditionalist parishes working with female bishops tp withdraw from beneath her jurisdiction.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said that he would consider shifting around rules in Parliament to expedite female bishops through the process of entering the House of Lords.
Following the staggering number of votes in support of the measure, Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu reminded members that final approval won't be administered until 2014.
"We should not open champagne bottles or whatever drink we are going to celebrate with because we need to continue to walk together until the end," Archbishop Sentamu said.
