After more than three hours of deliberations and three rounds of voting, the elective synod of the Anglican Church was still at a stalemate Thursday night in its effort to select a bishop for Barbados.
A fourth attempt will be made.
Seventy-three clergy and 82 representatives of the laity cast ballots which again failed to secure the two-thirds majority required by either Dean Dr Jeffrey Gibson or Reverend John Rogers.
The atmosphere at the Christ Church Parish Centre where the synod meeting took place was at times heavily charged, as both sides became very vocal in their views.
In the first ballot of the evening, Rogers received 30 votes from the clergy and 59 from the laity while Gibson got 43 votes from the clergy and 23 from the laity.
The second time around, Diocesan administrator Canon Wayne Isaacs announced another deadlock, with Rogers, priest of St George Parish Church, securing 59 votes from the laity and 29 from the clergy, while Gibson, Dean of St Michaels and All Angels, received 23 from the laity and 44 from the clergy.
A third ballot was also inconclusive.
The selection process to replace Dr John Holder, who retired in February, started on April 25. At that time, Gibson, 61; Rogers, 45; Canon Noel Burke, 60, rector of St David’s Parish Church and Dr Monrelle Williams emerged as candidates.
Neither secured a majority in the first round, but Burke and Dr Monrelle Williams were both eliminated.
A second attempt, with a similar deadlock, was held on May 14. (GC)
