For decades, Melissa M. Skelton straddled the secular and spiritual worlds. <\/p>\n
She did her masters in divinity at the same time as she completed her MBA. She was ordained as a priest in 1992 and worked at a parish while working as a brand manager for Procter & Gamble. Later, she juggled working as a rector with a consulting business in product marketing. <\/p>\n
Skelton\u2019s unorthodox background made her historic election as the 12th archbishop of the ecclesiastical province of B.C. and Yukon on the first ballot \u2014 the first female archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada \u2014 all the more unexpected. <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that background I was rather astonished to be elected,\u201d Skelton said, still in shock a day after the election Saturday when the church\u2019s provincial electoral college chose her among three bishops who had agreed to stand for election. <\/p>\n