Episcopal Church has elected Bishop Schori as Presiding Bishop
Reuters reports: The U.S. Episcopal Church chose Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on Sunday as its first woman leader, a move unprecedented in the Anglican church and one likely to produce more turmoil in a faith divided over the ordination of an openly gay bishop.
Her election came 30 years after the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, approved the ordination of women to the priesthood.
The selection seemed likely to provoke controversy, since most other Anglican communities, including the Church of England, do not allow women bishops. -- First woman named to head US Episcopal Church | Reuters.com
Bishop Schori was the leader (or tied) on all each of the five ballots, followed closely by the Rt. Rev. Henry Parsley of the Diocese of Alabama. Under the rules of the Episcopal Church [see pages 17 of this PDF], the House of Bishops first decides among the candidates and then asks for the concurrence of the House of Delegates (made up of 4 lay delegates and 4 clerical delegates from each diocese) [see this diagram for a simplified explanation of the way we Episcopalians run our church].