Imagine! What might our Church look like in a short time? The possibilities are very exciting. First, we just might have a woman as Presiding Bishop. Katherine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, is the first woman to be nominated for Presiding Bishop, a major breakthrough right there. She is an incredibly competent and wise leader, and, I believe, could easily handle not only the House of Bishops but participation as the only woman in the Primates Meeting. If you are excited about her candidacy, I urge you to make your support known to your own bishop. Those of us who are not bishops cannot vote in this election, but we can make known our support both of Katherine and of bishops who vote for her.
As I write, EWC's own Bonnie Anderson is the only candidate for President of the House of Deputies. Bonnie has served with great distinction, notably on Program, Budget & Finance, and as the Vice-President of the House of Deputies. George Werner has to step down at the end of this General Convention because the Diocese of Pittsburgh did not re-elect him as a Deputy (a sad indication of how thoroughly alienated the present leaders of that diocese seem to be from the Church at large). Bonnie has everything it takes to be an excellent President of the House of Deputies.
The Vice-President must be of the opposite order as the President, i.e., when the President is a cleric, the Vice-President must be a layperson, and v.v. Happily The Rev. Gay Jennings has indicated her willingness to run for Vice-President. Now, we must beware of the sin of presumption, but imagine! Three women at the helm of The Episcopal Church instead of three white men! It's possible. Thanks be to God, it's possible. Let your Deputies know what you are imagining.
After what seems like a large number of allmale slates for recent episcopal elections, we have reason to celebrate the nominations of women again: The Rev. Bonnie Perry and The Rev. Jane Gould for Bishop of California, and The Rev. Margaret Babcock for Bishop Coadjutor of Eastern Michigan. Both elections will be held May 6.
However, let's not get cocky or complacent. Just think of eleven males running in the Diocese of Albany, and remember the three dioceses that still do not, even YET, thirty years later, ordain women. Remember also the hostile dioceses, which don't quite ban women priests but just make life miserable for them at the diocesan level. (Fortunately, their parishes generally love them!) There is still a great deal to be done to come anywhere near our goal of gender equality in the leadership of our church, both lay and ordained.
So we're getting on with the work. The EWC is joining hands with the Executive Council's Committee on the Status of Women and the Office of Women's Ministries at the Church Center to sponsor an exciting conference October 1-6, 2006 at Kanuga. It's called Imagine: Claiming and Empowering Ordained Women' s Ministries and will focus on coaching women for positions of leadership in the church. Bishops, rectors of tall-steeple churches -who knows far we can go! Watch for details soon.
Please pray daily for the 75th General Convention, meeting June 13-21 in Columbus, Ohio. Pray that all bishops and deputies may be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that all may set aside their fears and stereotypes and enter freely into genuine discussion and discernment. If we can do this, we will be able to find the face of Christ in each other, and carry forward the life and mission of our church.