What will the Episcopal Church of the USA's electing of a female Bishop of America do?

Question

How will more right-winged, conservative Christians view it? They already dislike the ECUSA for allowing gays and women priests.

How will atheists and free-thinkers view it? Is it a step in the right direction towards people being accepting of everyone?

Answer 1

I've always respected the Episcopal church's views and actions. However, this is creating a rift in the Anglican community that may result in the church being ostracized (or whatever the correct term is).

Answer 2

The ECUSA already has women bishops. Schori is a Bp. of Nevada. She was elected primate of the ECUSA.

My thoughts on the mess.

...Things went from bad to worse over the weekend at GCon2006. With the election over the weekend of ECUSA BP. Katharine Schori, (of NV), a very liberal, pro-homosexual agenda, follower of a bishop that denies the resurection of Christ, but generally seen as a person that seeks a "common ground" (which really is a common but between the liberal and institutional progressives) to be the primate of the ECUSA, things have gotten considerably worse. First obviously, the election is seen as signaling that the ECUSA will not back down from its positions on gay marriage and repent (which is what they were instructed to do by the Anglican Communion), but it is also seen as telling off the Global South and African/Asian Anglican Bishops who do not recognize woman's ordination. These groups are also the ones and who pushed the directive (the Windor Report) that instructed the ECUSA to repent through the Anglican Communion. (The Catholics and the Orthodox Churches, also do not recognize woman's ordination, and the whole topic is an impediment to any ecumenical talks. The election of Schori as official head of the ECUSA has effectively ended the current line of ecumenical talks and set the whole process back decades overnight.) Within the ECUSA there is a minority of diocese (3 if I recall) that refuse to acknowledge such ordination. There is a scattering of other parishes, whether due to holding to a purely scriptural belief or because they are Catho-Anglican have likewise views. They are a very small minority and have no real power within the ECUSA.

Today the EC diocese of Fort Worth appealed to the Anglican Bishop of Canterbury for 'alternative oversight', which generally means that they do not want to be under the control of the primate of the ECUSA, Schori, and refuse to recognize her leadership. It is also a declaration that the ECUSA, according to the diocese's view is schismatic and not in communion with the Anglican Communion.

After the ECUSA elected an openly gay bishop in 2003, the Anglican Communion allowed for parishes to come under the control of outside dioceses, IF their current diocese agreed. This was done to prevent a schism. Removing control of an entire diocese is an interily different matter. There is no provisions that exists that would allow this. In fact it cannot be allowed because to allow it would be for the Anglican Communion to recognize that the ECUSA is schismatic/heretical and not a part of the world wide Anglican Communion. For the ECUSA to agree to outside control of one of their diocese would be for them to say that the ECUSA is not Anglican (in fact at GCon2006 many high ranking individuals have been calling the ECUSA by TEC (THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH)).

The move by the Diocese of Ft. Worth is thus seen as a maneuver to ask the AC and ECUSA to point blank decide the status of the ECUSA.

It will be interesting to see if other Diocese / Parishes in the US join with Ft. Worth.

The next steps:

These are actually not good. The AC is known for being mealy mouthed (save for the Africans/Asians) when it comes to divisive issues. It, as a whole, is also generaly progressive. They do not want to loose the ECUSA, and there is a large faction that believes that the ECUSA is right but that the time is not right for gay bishops and women bishops. The woman bishops / women's ordination is actually a smaller issue for the AC. It is made complex because High Anglicans and Institutional Anglicans believe that they are a sister Church to Rome and are "Catholics" not "Protestants". They believe that the AC is the "middle way" between Cath. and Prot. WB and WO effectively ends that notion because historical Christianity teaches that women cannot be made priests or bishops at an ontological level and such ordinations break apostolic succession which is the corner stone that the Anglicans use to call themselves a branch of the Catholic Church. Thus ecumenism and the whole "middle way" dies as a serious concept between the AC and Rome and the Orthodox.

The mealy mouthed aspect of the AC most likely will lead to a "wait it out" approach, unless of course the African Anglicans push real hard to kick the ECUSA out. The ECUSA might actually want out itself.

The diocese that have asked out of the ECUSA are in a huge bind. Everything that they own is the property of the ECUSA. The ECUSA could, if it wanted to, replace the entire governing structure of Ft. Worth. The ECUSA could simply say if you want out, you cannot use OUR buildings. Then a huge legal fight in the US courts over who own the property.

A NOTE A NOTE A NOTE
The fact that Schori is a woman is NOT THE BIG PROBLEM. She being a SHE is not what caused Ft. Worth to walk. It is that everything that she is about and what she stands for is against the faith of the Fr. Worth diocese.
It is not simply that Schori is a woman, or that she supports gay ord. and gay blessings, it is the whole package.

WHERE IS THIS GOING?
There are 3 factions in the AC....the very lefty ECUSA, the institutional but progressive Church of England who controls the AC, and the generally conservative African bishops. There is no middle ground to hold and the big tent policies are failing. Expect the AC to shatter a part in a few decades.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE US?
Don't know quite yet...but it looks ugly currently.

Answer 3

If she does a good job everyone will like her. If she doesn't do a good job she'll be yanked.