Scottish Episcopal Church Votes Against Electing Britain's First Female Bishop

The Scottish Episcopal Church voted against electing Britain's first female bishop on Saturday (January 16, 2010), with a majority of an electoral synod of clergy and church members choosing a more experienced male candidate, Reuters website reports today.

Rev. Alison Peden, 57, was the first woman to be shortlisted to become a bishop since the Scottish Episcopal Church voted to consecrate women in 2003.

One of three candidates, she lost out to Rev. Gregor Duncan, 59, who is already dean of Glasgow and Galloway -- the diocese for which the election was being held.

The Scottish Episcopal Church -- the most liberal of the Anglican provinces in Britain -- is close in sympathies to the U.S. Episcopal Church. Anglicans in Canada, the United States, and New Zealand already have women bishops.