my....

To quote a thread in episcopal:

[A] priest friend of mine said months ago that [Bishop Jefferts Schori] was the most talented of the crop, with a fuller array of the necessary skills than any other candidate. "Of course," said this priest, "she'll never be elected. But I'd vote for her." Apparently, a whole lot of folks thought the same and did.

I have this vision of people voting for the one they thought didn't have a chance and...she won. The next Presiding Bishop-Elect of the US Episcopal church happens to be a woman.

The press is having fun pointing out that most other Anglican churches haven't consecrated women as bishops. From what I've found quickly on Google, there are 38 churches (or "provinces") in the Anglican Communion....

3	have consecrated women as bishops. This includes the US.
11	more have women priests, and have removed church regulations against women bishops, but haven't consecrated any yet.
10	others ordain women as priests but have rules against women bishops. The Church of England itself is in this category and it's scheduled to debate women bishops in July; it's been ordaining women as full priests since 1994.
4	ordain women as deacons, but not full priests.
16 10	don't ordain women at all.

So we've had several years of the heads of more conservative provinces criticizing the US for consecrating a bishop they wouldn't ordain in the first place. Years where I wondered when they'd remember we first consecrated a woman - who they also wouldn't ordain - in 1989.

Um. I think they remember now.

Want some irony? Bishop Jefferts Schori was appointed to the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion - which is a "14-member, carefully selected group was charged with preparing the way for General Convention to respond to the controversy roiling the communion -- the consecration of Gene Robinson and the blessing of same-gender unions". Well...looks like she'll have an opportunity to work with the other leaders ... (From her bio.)

Edit: Apparently my count of provinces was incorrect. From Episcopal News Service: "Fourteen of the 38 Anglican provinces make provisions for women in the episcopate. At present, there are 13 active and retired women bishops and bishops-elect in the Episcopal Church and three in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Anglican Church of Aotearoa, Polynesia and New Zealand, has one retired woman bishop."