Religion: Opting for the Browning Version

Hawaii is one of the smallest and most remote dioceses in the Episcopal Church, but its bishop was chosen last week to be the new leader of the 2.8 million-member denomination through 1997. The election, at a convention in Anaheim, Calif., coincidentally fell on the 32nd wedding anniversary of the new Presiding Bishop, Edmond Lee Browning, 56. The fourth-ballot election of Browning over three other candidates* by the 214 bishops present moved the church well to the left of its current leadership. Browning, who has headed the Hawaii diocese for nine years, champions the ordination of women and actively opposes the...