Despite the rifts leading up to a global Anglican meeting next week, the woman causing much of the controversy remains calm.
"She's unflappable," New York Bishop Mark Sisk said of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, according to USA Today.Jefferts Schori, who was invested last year as leader of the Anglican Communion's U.S. wing, will be attending next week's Primates meeting as the first and only female head among 38 primates. But not all invited bishops are willing to recognize her at the same Primates table because of her controversial stance on biblical faith and morality, some Global South Anglican leaders said.
Before her installment last November, Jefferts Schori had questioned Jesus Christ as being the only way to God and told the Associated Press that she does not believe that "one person can have the fullness of truth in him or herself." She also expressed her support for the consecration of homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions.
The presiding bishop further told USA Today that more important than atonement and repentance is living like Jesus in this world.
"[Sin] is pervasive, part of human nature," but "it's not the centerpiece of the Christian message. If we spend our time talking about sin and depravity, it is all we see in the world," said Jefferts Schori in the interview.
Her views have drawn criticism from conservative U.S. Anglicans, but Sisk believes she is faithful to the central claims of the Scriptures, according to the national publication.
Anglican leaders overseas believe otherwise. In a September 2006 communiqué, some of the Global South leaders proposed for another bishop representing the U.S. body to be present at the Primates meeting, saying they would not recognize Jefferts Schori.
Still, the female head remains calm. "We can work on these together," she said referring to the broader issues of poverty, war and disease that will be discussed at the meeting.
"Human need is so overwhelming that it seems incredibly sinful to spend time" on church politics, she said, according to USA Today.
Her comments come after New Hampshire's V. Gene Robinson - the openly gay bishop whose consecration in 2003 outraged conservative Anglicans - also alluded to the debates within the church as a "waste of our time and energy" amid the global AIDS crisis and the widening gap between the rich and poor.
Robinson believes the scope of the rift is small yet exaggerated in the media.
Only "one-half of one percent of the 7,200 congregations" in the United States has left the Episcopal Church since the election of Jefferts Schori in June, the U.S. head said.
The latest exodus of churches came out of the Diocese of Virginia where two of the most historic and largest churches in the state overwhelmingly voted to split among others. The Diocese recently filed lawsuits against the breakaway congregations to recover and secure the multi-million dollar church properties.
Although sad about their departure, Jefferts Schori said the congregations, now aligned with the Church of Nigeria, cannot take "what doesn't belong to them."
The Primates meeting on Feb. 14-19 is scheduled to devote four hours to discussing the Episcopal Church, which will include a response from Jefferts Schori during the meeting and the opinions of three other U.S. bishops in an extra-curricular session. Many believe the global Anglican meeting may determine the continued unity or break of the Communion.
