Many Anglicans worry about the damage being done to the image of the Church of England, which only hits the headlines with rows over gay marriage or women bishops.
At Holy Trinity and St Mary's in Guildford, their female curate is about to be ordained and the local congregation were passionate about the need to move forward.
"It is absolutely ridiculous," one churchgoer told me. "It looks like we are stuck in the 1740s."
"My daughter loves this Church because of our attitude towards women but says she is not going to come back to the Church of England 'til they actually get this sorted out."
The Church had got itself in "a stupid situation", another told me.
After years of discussion about women bishops, draft legislation now allows for women as bishops, but says that a parish could request a male bishop if it wanted.
"The dioceses accepted it almost unanimously - 42 out of the 44," says April Alexander. She has campaigned for women bishops and is a member of the synod, so will be voting on the issue when it meets next week.
I lived in England in 1992 when the women priest issue was settled and it was a break with tradition and Scripture. I listened to the synod proceedings on the radio, and at that time, the anti-women priest side had much better arguments, but the liberals won the day.
This denomination will split over this issue.
