Future archbishops of Sydney will be elected with greater speed and remain in office until at least the age of 68 after a Synod vote last week.

An amended election and retirement ordinance, moved by Bishop Glenn Davies, contained two propositions. First, that the existing process for electing a new archbishop was too slow. For example, an election synod can be held up to 16 weeks after an incumbent's retirement, and he proposed to reduce this to six weeks.

Second, Bishop Davies said that in keeping with the Federal Government plans to raise the standard retirement age to 67 over the coming years, the amended ordinance would increase the archbishop's retirement age from 65 (with a possible five-year extension) to 68, with the option of a two-year extension.

This proposal caused vigorous discussion on the Synod floor. A number of speakers spoke strongly against it, including Dean Phillip Jensen, who proposed retirement at 65 without any extension.

He said it was "time to elect the best man of a younger age" " even if that meant he would be in the job for 25 years " because "if he's the best man at 40, he's the best man".

The Rev Dominic Steele from Annandale proposed a fixed 10-year term for future archbishops to increase the opportunity of electing a younger man to the job.

He spoke of conversations held before previous archbishop's elections in which younger men were not considered because "no matter how godly the candidate, we wouldn't be prepared to give anyone a 20-year run".

Some speakers were concerned about the fixed term, wondering what a former archbishop, potentially "retired" from the job in his mid-50s, would do with himself. Others disliked the idea of a fixed term, even with a possible extension, out of concern that if the archbishop did not gain the required votes to extend his tenure, diocesan support would then be split between two men.

Speaking against the 10-year term the rector of Christ Church St Laurence, the Rev Adrian Stephens, said that election synods were not for selecting a CEO but an archbishop. "If we accept that God has called this man to be an archbishop in God's church, what are we saying to God if we limit or restrict the time of his appointment?" he asked.

Synod resoundingly passed the amended ordinance, with the raised retirement age of 68 and without adding a 10-year fixed term.