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Anxious Episcopalians to pick new leader

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 18, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Episcopal General Convention is picking a new presiding bishop during a critical meeting on its future in the global Anglican family.

Seven candidates to become chief pastor were introduced to delegates Saturday, one day ahead of the election. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold is ending his nine-year term.

The candidates are Bishop Edwin Gulick of Kentucky; Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington, Ky., which is a separate diocese; Bishop Charles Jenkins of Louisiana; Bishop Neil Alexander of Atlanta; Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori; Alabama Bishop Henry Parsley and Bishop Francisco Duque-Gomez of the Episcopal Church in Colombia, which is part of the U.S. church.

Only bishops can cast ballots for the next leader. They will vote today in a closed session, then return to the convention to announce the winner to delegates.

The new presiding bishop will take over during anxious times for Episcopalians.

Many Anglican archbishops are angry over the denomination's 2003 decision to appoint its first openly gay bishop - V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. arm of the Anglican Communion, whose leaders favor a moratorium on electing homosexuals to lead dioceses. If the Episcopal convention does not enact the temporary ban, the Anglican Communion's long-running feud over homosexuality could lead to full-blown schism.

Also, the Pittsburgh-based Anglican Communion Network, which represents 10 U.S. dioceses and more than 900 parishes within the Episcopal Church, is deciding whether to break from the denomination. The House of Bishops recently started a defense fund that will help fight legal battles against parishes that want to leave and take their property with them.

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 05:47:08]