This week in Christian history: Ted Haggard resigns, female bishop consecrated, the Assumption of Mary

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, October 30, 2022

First female Episcopal Church diocesan bishop consecrated – Nov. 1, 1993

This week marks the anniversary of when Mary Adelia McLeod was consecrated as the first female diocesan bishop in the history of The Episcopal Church, specifically to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont.

Also the first woman from Alabama to be ordained in The Episcopal Church, McLeod’s consecration ceremony was globally broadcast and held during a major snowstorm.

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Subscribe

In an interview with The Associated Press published a few months before the ceremony, McLeod explained that she did not want to be considered a feminist icon, but rather a servant of God.

“The Diocese of Vermont has looked past the gender issue and was looking for the right person for them, and it just happened to be me,” said McLeod at the time. “But they have been very courageous in following the Spirit’s guiding.”

“I think there’s been a conscious effort, at least in the election of bishops, to include women in that process. That certainly wasn’t true 10 years ago.”