Episcopal Church leader says defections will have little effect

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says that conservatives' creation of new Anglican Church in North America is painful, but that she thinks 'we're past the worst of it.'
By Duke Helfand
December 5, 2008

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church predicted Thursday that an initiative by hundreds of conservative congregations to form their own church in North America had largely run its course and would not trigger further large-scale defections from the denomination long divided over issues related to homosexuality.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, making her first public comments since a coalition of breakaway congregations declared their intention Wednesday, said the departures were personally painful but would have little effect on the 2.4-million-member Episcopal Church. The new Anglican Church in North America represents about 100,000 people. the rest