 The Episcopal Church, 30 years after it allowed women to become priests and bishops, has elected a woman as its Presiding Bishop. Katharine Jefferts Schori, 52, bishop of Nevada, was elected on the fifth ballot June 18 by her colleagues in the House of Bishops from a slate of seven nominees. The House of Deputies confirmed the election the same day, as is required by church law. The election took place during the church’s 75th General Convention, meeting in Columbus, Ohio. The 26th Presiding Bishop-elect will be the first woman to hold the top post in the church’s nearly 400-year history. Her nine-year term officially begins November 1; she will be invested and seated November 4 during a liturgy at Washington National Cathedral. She will succeed Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. An airplane pilot and former oceanographer, Jefferts Schori addressed deputies and visitors who gathered in the Columbus Convention Center in both Spanish and English. She thanked the other nominees and emphasized her passion for mission. She also offered a vision of reconciliation and actualization of the reign of God.  The Presiding Bishop-elect’s vision to lead the church comes out of the prophet Isaiah’s vision of the reign of God and includes such United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 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 said June 18 during a news conference following her election. The committee charged with nominating bishops for the position issued a call for nominees in March 2004. It said the church was seeking bishops who are “intensely grounded in the love of Jesus Christ, living out their lives in the Spirit and articulating zeal for the Gospel.” The Presiding Bishop is the key leader in articulating the vision and mission of the church, and assessing its work, as well as advocates for social justice in this country and in the world. The Presiding Bishop “will lead us into the reality of a multicultural church,” the committee said. As our chief pastor, the Presiding Bishop is our chief preacher and liturgical leader, and oversees the pastoral care and spiritual wellness of bishops. The Presiding Bishop is a leader in the Anglican Communion and in this role takes the title of Primate, from the Latin for leader. The Primate works to improve the human condition and works toward the reconciliation of all persons as we live out the Gospel. Read more about it Information on the election Presiding Bishop and other General Convention news | 
