Woman on Ballot In Washington
Episcopal News Service. May 30, 1986 [86097]
WASHINGTON (DPS, May 1) -- The Episcopal Diocese of Washington has named a woman -- The Rev. Mary Chotard Doll -- among four official nominees for suffragan bishop.
Doll is the third woman nominated since canon law has allowed women into the priesthood and episcopate in the United States, but the first since General Convention and Anglican Communion statements have refocused the discussion.
The Rev. Lawrence Harris, the Rev. John Chamblin and the Rev. Ronald Haines are the other nominees.
More names may be added to the ballot through petitions made in writing -- signed by at least 25 clergy canonically resident in the diocese and 50 lay communicants -- and submitted by May 16. The special election convention will be held May 31.
The Rt. Rev. John T. Walker, bishop of Washington, called for the election of a suffragan bishop late last year, and in January, the diocesan Convention authorized the establishment of a Nominating Committee.
The Nominating Committee's selection of a woman nominee follows the passing of a resolution by the House of Bishops at the Church's last General Convention, which stated that the majority of the bishops "do not intend to withhold consent to the election of a bishop of this Church on grounds of gender..."
At the request of the bishops, the Presiding Bishop has consulted with the primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion on the matter. They, in turn, asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a "Working Party" to study the subject of women in episcopacy, and the Presiding Bishop also has appointed a special "Committee to Study Women in the Episcopate."
The Diocese of Washington covers the District of Columbia and four counties of Maryland. There are 85 parish and eight mission congregations, with a total membership of 27,000. Votes to determine who becomes the suffragan will be cast by about 200 clergy members and 173 lay persons.