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Woman will lead EpiscopalChurch

The choice - a first - may deepen the rift between the American church and conservative members overseas.

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 19, 2006

The groundbreaking and potentially divisive choice for the 2.3-million-member Episcopal Church comes 30 years after it first allowed women to become priests and three years after it ordained an openly gay bishop.

Standing before cheering delegates to the Episcopal General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, Jefferts Schori said she was "awed and honored and deeply privileged to be elected." Outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was at her side as she was introduced after closed-door balloting.

The choice of Jefferts Schori is likely to worsen the already difficult relations between the American church and the other members of the Anglican Communion, the worldwide association of separate national Anglican churches. With 77-million members worldwide, the Communion is the world's third-largest church body.

Episcopalians have been sparring with many other churches over homosexuality, but a woman presiding bishop adds a new layer of complexity to the troubled relationship.

Only the United States, Canada and New Zealand have female bishops, although some other provinces allow women to quality for the position.

Still, there are many Anglican leaders who believe women should not even be priests. Those opposed to female clergy often cite the unbroken tradition of male priesthood in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and in the Anglican Communion until about 30 years ago.

Betsy Rogers, 52, a member of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Tampa, had mixed feelings about the news.

"Initially, as a woman, I'm delighted," she said. "As an Episcopalian that wants the church to be very healthy, I fear that it's a bit soon for it and it may cause a different type of schism."

In 2003, the Americans shocked the Anglican world by electing the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Placing a female bishop at the head of the denomination may further anger conservatives overseas and within the U.S. church. And Jefferts Schori voted to confirm Robinson.

"I will bend over backward to build relationships with people who disagree with me," she pledged at a news conference.

Whether that will be enough will play out in the months ahead.

This could "marginalize the American church within the Anglican Communion to a greater degree than we now are," said the Rev. Canon Dennis Kezar, the rector of St. Mary's parish. "It's kind of like the ugly American telling everybody else that we have an inside track on what the Holy Spirit would tell us to do."

But Kezar was pleased with Jefferts Schori's election, and the Rev. Ed Henley, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Tampa, expressed his support in a statement.

Kezar said he has met Jefferts Schori twice and describes her as very intelligent and sensitive. He said she is an acute listener who has clear and strong convictions. And he thinks the church is ready for a female leader.

"I don't think the gender issue is going to be as important as the task of leading this church to seeking a higher form of unity," he said.

Gasps could be heard throughout the vast convention hall when Jefferts Schori's name was announced. Episcopal bishops elected Jefferts Schori on the fifth ballot. She collected 95 votes, with 93 others split between the rest of the field - six candidates, all men. Other General Convention delegates confirmed the choice.

The presiding bishop represents the Episcopal Church in meetings with other Anglican leaders and with leaders of other religious groups. But the presiding bishop's power is limited because of the democratic nature of the church. The General Convention is the top Episcopal policymaking body and dioceses elect their own bishops.

Jefferts Schori is a former oceanographer who decided to become a priest after filling in as a preacher at her local church; she was ordained in 1994. She is a licensed pilot and is married with one daughter. She will be installed to her nine-year term at a ceremony Nov. 4 in Washington National Cathedral.

The new leader will inherit a shrinking and fractured church.

Membership in the Episcopal Church, as in other mainline Protestant groups, has been declining for years and has remained predominantly white. More than a quarter of the 2.3-million parishioners are 65 or older.

The Pittsburgh-based Anglican Communion Network, which represents 10 conservative U.S. dioceses and more than 900 parishes within the Episcopal Church, is deciding whether to break from the denomination. The network has a meeting scheduled for the end of July where it will craft its response to the convention.

Church member Rogers still hopes unity can be realized.

"Personally, I would like to see somebody who could really heal the division," she said. "I'm really not just sure a woman can do that, but I really hope and pray that she can."

Times staff writers Tamara El-Khoury and Sherri Day contributed to this report, which used information from the Associated Press, New York Times and Washington Post.

[Last modified June 19, 2006, 05:02:07]