The nomination of Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church was thought by most in the church to be little more than a symbolic gesture.
After 30 years of ordaining women as priests and sluggish progress in advancing them to leadership positions in the church, floating the name of a woman for the top job seemed like a harmless “atta girl” for the 25 percent of Episcopal clergy who are women.
Then Schori was elected.
“It was quite an astonishing result,” said the Rev. Peter Eaton, rector at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver.
The Rev. Constance Delzell, rector at St. Andrew’s, even suggested the election might have been rigged by a higher power. “It was so inexplicable it can only be the work of the Holy Spirit,” she said.
Not everyone was so munificent.
For a handful of steadfast traditionalists, Schori’s election was something else: heresy.
The bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, one of three dioceses in the U.S. that does not ordain women priests, vowed to split from the church over the election of a woman. That’s something he didn’t do even after the contentious selection of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
But a day after Sunday’s vote, Fort Worth announced it is shopping for a male in the Anglican Church hierarchy to lead it. The dioceses of Quincy, Ill., and San Joaquin, Calif., which also don’t accept women priests, may follow.
Still, few anticipate a stampede of Episcopalians joining Fort Worth in fleeing the church over the smart, charismatic Schori.
Eaton said the vast majority are comfortable with women clergy.
“Thirty years has done a lot to regularize in people’s imaginations the thought that they might have a woman who’s a priest in their parish,” he said. In fact, he said, “many think it’s odd that there wouldn’t be a woman in the leadership of the church.”
Delzell, the first woman in Colorado to be ordained a priest without first serving as a deacon, said she’s delighted with Schori’s selection.
“I’ve been a little giddy all week,” she said. “It’s kind of like being drunk on new wine.”
Though she’s never met Schori, Delzell said she is “such an outstanding figure, people will very quickly recognize her presence.”
“I’ve been watching her at press conferences this week, and I’m extremely impressed with her.”
The controversy is hardly the first for the church that dates back to sixth century England.
When priests first were allowed to marry during the Reformation, Queen Elizabeth I was so hostile to the idea that Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was said to have sneaked his wife to church in a box with holes in it on the back of his carriage. “The story no doubt is apocryphal,” Eaton said, “but it accurately illustrates the deep discomfort Queen Elizabeth had with married clergy.”
More recently, the Episcopal Church struggled with the ordination of black priests, who for decades were limited to serving only black parishioners.
“Some say we’re lucky there are any
African-Americans left in the Episcopal Church,” Eaton said. “In those days, we didn’t treat them at all well.”
Delzell said that at first, women priests faced discrimination and resistance from many in the church.
“It was extremely challenging,” she said, “but in the end, it was redemptive.”
While some Episcopalians clearly see Schori’s election as nothing short of sacrilege, Eaton said he would be “very surprised” if most parishioners will care.
“I think the average person is not going to worry much about this,” he said. “I could be wrong, but that’s my suspicion. It’s my hope, too.”
Still, if objections are raised among the faithful, Eaton is prepared for it.
“We can use it as an opportunity to grow more deeply together as we listen to each other,” he said, “as Christians.”
What a concept.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
