Presiding Episcopal bishop speaks of joy, diverse opinions

By Sherri Day
Times Staff Writer
Monday, November 3, 2008

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the Episcopal Church, visits the Diocese of Southwest Florida this week.

Jefferts Schori, who leads more than 2.4-million Episcopalians worldwide and 34,000 in the bay area, is coming to Tampa for the biannual meeting of the National Association of Episcopal Schools. It's her first visit as presiding bishop.

We talked with her Friday as she prepared for her trip.

What's the state of the Episcopal Church?

Most every place I visit, congregations and dioceses are energetically engaged in serving their neighbors both nearby and far away. What gets reported in the media is a matter of a relatively few people who are exceedingly unhappy and very noisy.

You've been in office for almost two years. Describe the landscape of the church.

In some sense, I think we're past the worst of the current controversies. I think most people are realizing that there are a variety of opinions in this church about the current hot-button issues as there have always been a variety of opinions about matters of great interest in the church. I'm fond of reminding people that in the late 1800s people were arguing vehemently about whether or not you could put candles on the altar. Significant numbers of people left the church over that issue. The current controversy is not new in its heat. What is new is the speed with which it's communicated around the world. But I think as Episcopalians we're remembering that we value a diversity of opinion, and that's part of our health and part of our DNA.

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