Bishop Schori

In an historic vote at about 4 p.m. today [June 18, 2006], the House of Bishops elected -- and the House of Deputies consented to -- the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, led on the first ballot. She tied with Bishop Henry Parsley on the second ballot, but her momentum continued to grow, and she was elected on the fifth ballot with 95 ballots. Parsley received 82 ballots.

The announcement in the House of Deputies was met with applause -- despite admonitions from the president of the House of Deputies. Dozens of people spoke in support of her election, calling her brilliant, thoughtul and a woman of integrity, consistency and faith. A few people opposed the consent, saying that it could cause ramifications in the Anglican Communion, where only three provinces approve the ordination of women bishops.

The bishops elected Jefferts Schori during a closed-session meeting at Trinity, Capitol Square. They began their meeting at 10:30 a.m. Bishop Kenneth Price Jr. served on the Nominating Committee for the 26th Presiding Bishop. Jefferts Schori follows the Most Rev. Frank Griswold as the 26th Presiding Bishop. The term for presiding bishop is nine years, and a presiding bishop cannot run for re- election. The consecration is scheduled for November.

Jefferts Schori, 51, was consecrated the ninth Bishop of Nevada on Feb. 24, 2001. She serves a diocese of some 6,000 members in 35 congregations.

Her service to the wider church includes current membership on the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion; the Board of Trustees, Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California; the CREDO Advisory Board; the House of Bishops peer coaching program; the General Board of Examining Chaplains; the Board for Church Deployment; the House of Bishops' Pastoral Development, Racism, and Planning Committees; the Court for Review of a Trial of a Bishop; the Episcopal visitor team for the Community of the Holy Spirit; and the Bishops of Small Dioceses group.

From 2001-2003 she was a member of the 20/20 Strategy Group, and served as secretary of the House of Bishops Ministry Committee at the 2003 General Convention.

She is the author of "When Conflict and Hope Abound," Vestry Papers (March-April 2005); "Building Bridges/Widening Circles" in Preaching Through Holy Days and Holidays: Sermons that Work XI, Roger Alling and David J. Schlafer, eds. Morehouse (2003); "Multicultural Issues in Preaching" in Preaching Through the Year of Matthew: Sermons That Work X, Roger Alling and David J. Schlafer, eds. Morehouse (2001); and "The Nag" in Preaching Through the Year of Luke: Sermons That Work IX, Roger Alling and David J. Schlafer, eds. Morehouse (2000). Her Maundy Thursday sermon was included in What Makes This Day Different? by David Schlafer, Cowley (1998).

She is an active, instrument-rated pilot with more than 500 hours logged.

At the time of her election as bishop of Nevada, Jefferts Schori was assistant rector at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in Corvallis, Oregon, where she also served as pastoral associate, dean of the Good Samaritan School of Theology, and priest-in- charge, El Buen Samaritano, Corvallis. She was ordained deacon and priest in 1994. Prior to ordination, she was a visiting assistant professor at Oregon State University's Department of Religious Studies, a visiting scientist at Oregon State University's Department of Oceanography, and an oceanographer with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle.

She received a B.S. in biology from Stanford University, 1974; an M.S. in oceanography from Oregon State University, 1977; a Ph.D. from Oregon State University, 1983; an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 1994; and a D.D. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2001.

Jefferts Schori was born March 26, 1954, in Pensacola, Florida. She has been married to Richard Miles Schori, a retired theoretical mathematician (topologist), since 1979. They have one child, Katharine Johanna, 24, who is a second lieutenant and pilot in the US Air Force.

Watch here for exclusive pictures of the election inside of Trinity, Capitol Square! They will be posted this evening.