Episcopal Church Elects Female Bishop Who Supports Homosexuality

I saw this article on another blog and researched this, and here's what I found...this is from Wikipedia...

"The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori; born March 26, 1954 in Pensacola, Florida is the Presiding Bishop-elect of The Episcopal Church. She is the first woman elected primate in the Anglican Communion.

Jefferts Schori was raised in Roman Catholicism until 1963, when at the age of eight her parents brought her into the Episcopal Church in conjunction with their own move out of Roman Catholicism. She attended school in New Jersey, then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in biology from Stanford University in 1974, and a Master of Science in oceanography in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1983, also in oceanography, from Oregon State University. She earned her M.Div. in 1994, and was ordained priest that year. She served as assistant rector at the Church of the Good Samaritan, Corvallis, Oregon, where she had special responsibility for pastoring the Hispanic community (she speaks Spanish fluently). In 2001, she was called and consecrated Bishop of Nevada. She was awarded a D.D. (honoris causa) in 2001 from The Church Divinity School of the Pacific. (It is a common practice for a bishop in The Episcopal Church to be awarded an honorary doctorate from her or his alma mater seminary.) She is an instrument-rated pilot.

She married Richard Schori, an Oregon State professor of topology, in 1979. They have an adult daughter, also Katharine, also a pilot: she is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

The Episcopal Church met in General Convention in Columbus, Ohio in June 2006. Jefferts Schori was elected Presiding Bishop by the House of Bishops on June 18, from among seven nominees on the fifth ballot with 95 of the 188 votes cast. The House of Deputies, consisting of deacons, priests and laity, overwhelmingly approved the House of Bishops' election later that day. Jefferts Schori will be the first woman Primate in the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Although Jefferts Schori's election was an indication of widespread support in the Episcopal Church in the United States for ordaining women to the historic episcopate, the Diocese of Fort Worth, which opposes women in holy orders, has asked the Archbishop of Canterbury for "alternative primatial oversight" (a previously unheard-of expression), analogous to "alternative episcopal oversight" suggested in the Windsor Report. Several other conservative dioceses affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network, including some that do ordain women, have made similar requests.

Jefferts Schori voted to consent to the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, the controversial appointment of a gay bishop. Therefore, her election as Presiding Bishop has been regarded by some conservative Episcopalians as a confirmation that the Episcopal Church is unwilling to change its institutional views on homosexuality and Christianity, especially gays in ordained ministry or living in committed relationships. Jefferts Schori's election may also be an issue for some bishops of other churches in the Anglican Communion, which does not universally recognize the ordination of women.

At a June 18 news conference, the Presiding Bishop-elect articulated a willingness to work with conservatives. She expressed her hope to lead the church in the reign of God, rooted in imagery from Isaiah and including such United Nations Millennium Development Goals as eradicating poverty and hunger: "The poor are fed, the Good News is preached, those who are ostracized and in prison are set free, the blind receive sight."

Jefferts Schori will remain Bishop of Nevada until taking up the position of Presiding Bishop officially on November 1, 2006; her investiture and seating in the office will be held November 4 at the (Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul) Washington National Cathedral. An Episcopal Presiding Bishop's term is nine years."

I have a few Episopal friends, and I hadn't heard this news yet. There seems to be a dividing line in the Episopal/Anglican church and this election makes the division even clearer. The future should be very interesting...