HuffPo: Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop, Speaks About Gay Clergy And Birth Control

03/27/2012

NEW YORK -- The movement toward legalizing same-sex marriage and the acceptance of gay people as clergy and lay members of religious groups is "a done deal" that represents "phenomenal" progress, the top figure in the Episcopal Church told The Huffington Post during a recent visit to its newsroom.

In an hour-long conversation with HuffPost staffers, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, touched upon subjects that ranged from her views on how to interpret scripture and challenges that face the church as its demographics change to debates over contraception and the relationship between religion and science.

Jefferts Schori is the first female bishop to lead a province of the Anglican communion, a 85-million member global denomination whose U.S.-based body is called the Episcopal Church. Since being installed in 2006, her tenure has been marked by tensions within the church over the ordination of openly gay bishops. Dozens of Episcopal parishes have left the American church over the issue and have aligned themselves with more conservative Anglican bishops in other parts of the world. The bishop reaffirmed her support for the gay rights movement during her visit. the rest