Bishop Ewen Ratteray's time at the head of the local Anglican Church may be numbered as some members of the Synod might seek a vote of no-confidence against him.

Holy Trinity Church vestry member Miles Outerbridge said the move could follow fury at the Bishop's refusal to seek a work permit renewal for Canon Alan Tilson.

"Yes, there could be a vote of no-confidence," Mr. Outerbridge said.

"It is a complicated church procedure, but it could end up there."

He said in order for the vote to work, other parishes would have to be upset with the Bishop as well, but said he knew individuals at the vestries of St. George's, Hamilton and Smiths had been disappointed and fed up for a long time by the decisions of Bishop Ratteray.

Mr. Outerbridge said he still hoped the matter could be resolved in another way.

"I see the Bishop as the CEO of a company. He should be more concerned with what the shareholders or customers are thinking. This is not a spiritual issue, it is a business issue."

Last month, members of the congregation at Holy Trinity Church in Hamilton Parish became enraged after they were informed by Canon Tilson ? who had been at the church for the last 15 years ? that the Bishop would not seek renewal of his work permit. Canon Tilson also told his congregation he had been given the information a year ago.

After that announcement received a flood of letters from members of his congregation. And on March 17 a delegation of concerned church goers lobbied the Bishop to no avail.

In the latest edition of the local Anglican newsletter Diocesan News, Bishop Ratteray has strongly warned parishioners against taking their grievances to the Press.

The Bermuda Diocesan News is found in Anglican churches across the Island. In the April 3 edition entitled "Concern About Publicising of Church Disputes" the Bishop said Anglicans should not publicise their disagreement with his decisions.

"In recent times and not for the first time, there have been those who when upset by something that I have decided, have resorted to the Press as a way of venting their feelings," Bishop Ratteray wrote. "While that may make them feel better, yet it serves no good long term purpose; it only brings the Anglican Church into disrepute with the public."

He told members of his congregation to learn to keep family problems within the family. "The Church here has to learn to keep that which are family matters within the family, and not keep running to the Press whenever there is a dispute. I grow rather weary of this propensity that some have to do this so very often."

He said the church was shooting itself in the foot.

As Head of the Church of England in Bermuda, he had to make unpopular decisions from time to time but added "we have to deal with them in a spirit of love, rather than with vindictiveness and malice".

"Great harm has been done to the unity of the church in these Islands by such behaviour," he said.

But on Monday night, Mr. Outerbridge said the Bishop sounded like a dictator.

"I feel what the Bishop is doing is rather dictatorial. There could be a vote of no-confidence."

He said the governing body of the Anglican Church in Bermuda is the synod, which is made up of laymen and clergy.

Mr. Outerbridge thought it could be possible to remove Bishop Ratteray from his position if the synod agreed.

But he said the last synod was supposed to meet in March, but it was cancelled. "The Chairman is the Bishop," Mr. Outerbridge said. "Another meeting is scheduled for June."

He said people will continue to talk publicly about his decision not to renew Canon Tilson's permit.

"The ironic thing is the Bishop is complaining about people taking it public and yet he does it himself," Mr. Outerbridge said. "He started it. I think many people do not have a great deal of sympathy for him."

Bishop Ratteray is off the Island until the middle of next week.