Lesbian could head Episcopal Diocese - Columbus native among finalists for Chicago post

Lesbian could head Episcopal Diocese - Columbus native among finalists for Chicago post
BY SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH Religion Reporter/shogan@suntimes.com
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
August 29, 2007

A lesbian priest has been named a finalist for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

The Rev. Tracey Lind's nomination comes as conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Communion are demanding that its U.S. branch no longer consecrate openly gay bishops.

"I believe that accepting this nomination is what God is asking of me," Lind said in a statement. She's dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland and author of Interrupted by God.

Lind is among a list of five bishop candidates that includes three women. No woman has ever been a finalist, the diocese said.
Bishop James Stanton of Dallas, a catalyst in the global effort against gay bishops, called Lind's nomination distressing.

"It's an action that says Chicago really doesn't care what the rest of the Anglican Communion says," he told the Sun-Times.

The 77-million member Anglican Communion has been fractured over the issue since 2003, when its U.S. community -- the Episcopal Church -- consecrated its first openly gay bishop, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

With the exception of some bishops, leaders of the 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church have been supportive of gay clergy.

"My life with my partner, Emily Ingalls [a cradle Episcopalian], is the gift that most sustains me," Lind's statement said. "Together, we tend our garden, travel, hike."

The Columbus native dropped out as a candidate for bishop in the Newark Diocese last year, saying she wasn't ready to leave Ohio. But she's told the Chicago diocese "the timing is now right," a spokesman said.


Church's inner turmoil

Last year, the Episcopal Church passed a resolution that encouraged dioceses to exercise restraint in elevating leaders whose "manner of life" might be an issue for the Anglican Communion.
Earlier this year, primates -- leaders of the Communion's 38 provinces -- asked the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops not to authorize gay bishops.

They set a Sept. 30 deadline for response.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will attend the House of Bishops meeting next month in New Orleans.

The Chicago diocese election is Nov. 10. Other nominees are the Rev. Jane Gould of Lynn, Mass; the Rev. Margaret Rose of New York; the Rev. Jeffrey Lee of Medina, Wash., and the Rev. Timothy Safford of Philadelphia.

But before a bishop can be consecrated, the election must be ratified by a majority of representatives from other U.S. dioceses, church officials said.

The new bishop will succeed Bishop William Persell, who's led the diocese since 1999.

The candidates were selected by a diocesan search committee. Additional nominees can be made through a petition process.