No Lesbian Bishop for Chicago Diocese

The New York Times reports:

The Rev. Tracey Lind lost her bid Saturday to be the second openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church and the first female bishop of its Chicago diocese.

The Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, rector of St. Thomas Church in Medina, Wash., won the election to lead the 40,000-plus member diocese.

There were two rounds of balloting in the election, which had eight candidates. Three of them, including Ms. Lind, who is dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, were women. [...]

The outgoing bishop, the Rev. William D. Persell, said the election “should not, in any way, be seen as a vote against a gay or lesbian person.” He said women make up a third of the rectors and vicars in the diocese, and that gays and lesbians are “some of our most creative clergy.”

“We’re committed to full inclusion,” Bishop Persell added.

That's good to know, however it seems some might have a slightly different opinion.

While agreeing that the Chicago diocese has mostly muted the issue of sexual orientation, Joan Barr Smith, a non-voting parishioner from Evanston, said she expected a Lind victory would have caused some turbulence. “And we dodged that bullet,” Ms. Smith said.

Get ready world, because we are everywhere!