The Unofficial Katharine Jefferts Schori Fan Page

Christmas Is In (and On) The Air...

2011-12-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2011/12/20/general-seminarys-television-special-to-air-on-cbs-christmas-eve/

General Seminary in New York City will be aired on CBS Christmas Eve with KJS giving the homily.

A Rather Different Cameo Appearance!

2011-12-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

The irreverant adult cartoon "American Dad" had an episode called "Seasons Beatings" in which the lead character played Santa in the church (an Episcopal church, by the way) Christmas play and beat his archrival, the man who played Jesus. The news picks it up, church leaders from around the world call each other about it and ban him from all Christianity. Amongst the leaders was our PB, along with the Pope and some Methodist leaders. You can't see here but she also has a name plate that says "Bishop Schori". Well, it should have said Jefferts Schori, but close enough! Love the shield placements!!

Advent Message 2011

2011-11-27T16:56:00.001-08:00

Advent Reflection from The Episcopal Church on Vimeo.

September 11: Ten years later

2011-09-10T19:21:00.001-07:00

Presiding Bishop reflects on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. from The Episcopal Church on Vimeo.

Congo Visit

2011-07-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Rev. Margaret Rose and the Rev. Petero Sabune stop to say a prayer with widows in a community near the Anglican University of Congo in Bunia. Widows are considered outcasts in many Congolese communities and forced by some churches to face the wall during worship services.

2011-06-23T19:11:00.001-07:00

More pics. The camera just loves her........

2011-06-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

"We need bold and prophetic voices. We need networks that inspire and organize people," she said. "There is abundant work to be done and it must always be inspired by that vision of shalom: food and drink for feasting, dignified work and sabbath leisure, none lording it over another, all God's children living in peace. Pray that it may be so and work like hell to make it so."

2011-06-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Bishop Barbara C. Harris, right, retired bishop suffragan of Massachusetts, presented Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori with the Episcopal City Mission's Barbara C. Harris Award for Social Justice during ECM's June 7 annual meeting. Harris is the first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion; Jefferts Schori is the first woman to serve as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

The Lord is My Shepherd

2011-05-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Do this in rememberance of me....

2011-04-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Beautiful shot! More pics here: http://www.stjohnsky.com/plogger/index.php?level=album&id=2

May your Eastertide be filled with the grace of new life. Go, discover, and BE resurrection for the world around you.

2011-04-07T18:43:00.001-07:00

Presiding bishop's 2011 Easter message

April 07, 2011

[Episcopal News Service] The Resurrection must be understood in significantly different images and metaphors in the southern hemisphere, when Easter always arrives in the transition from summer to winter. Even as a hard, hard winter lingers on in northern climes, with unaccustomed April snow in many places, we yearn for the new life we know is waiting around the corner. As Christians, we're meant to have the same hunger for the new creation emerging all around us.

We can see the broken places of our world either as complete and utter disaster, or as seedbeds -- graves, even -- in which God is doing a new thing. The situation in Haiti is dire, yet day by day and person by person hope lightens and leavens. Plans are emerging for civic reconstruction in Port-au-Prince that would bless the nation with pride in its heritage and more effective government. The Episcopal Church is a partner in those possibilities, as the vision for a rebuilt cathedral takes form. The graves are becoming gardens, at Cathédrale Sainte-Trinité and Collège St. Pierre. New and more life-giving relationships are emerging between development ministries and the lives of the people. Resurrection is happening in many places, even if one must search for it, like looking for the first buds on the trees as ice and snow give way to the warmth of spring.

The aftermath of earthquake and tsunami in Japan continues to look a great deal like winter, and the trials and failures at Daiichi Fukushima currently resonate more with apocalypse than Easter. Yet across northeastern Japan the work of the faithful is feeding senior citizens, ministering to displaced persons in shelters, and prompting challenging questions about social priorities, energy use, and consumerist lifestyles.

The gift of Easter insists that human beings are capable of divine relationship, for as Athanasius put it, "God became human that human beings might become divine." The life, death, passion, and resurrection of Jesus are the cosmic insistence that nothing can separate us from the divine passion for humanity. Easter people are imprinted with the assurance that God is always working some new grace of creation out of death and destruction.

For most of us the dying is not cosmic. It may start with a small willingness to set aside self, or a new opportunity for grafting onto a greater whole. Or it may involve lowering the barriers between self and other to become more readily aware of our fundamental oneness, our common heritage as offspring of the Holy One. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we share the work he did on our behalf. We give thanks for the Resurrection, and we become part of Jesus’ ongoing work, as we become aware of its power in our own lives.

May your Eastertide be filled with the grace of new life. Go, discover, and BE resurrection for the world around you.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

Lenten Message 2011

2011-03-23T19:31:00.001-07:00

Flashback : 2006

2011-02-19T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Today Show interviews a newly elected KJS in 2006

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Presiding bishop to join Obama administration as advisory council member

2011-02-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

Presiding bishop to join Obama administration as advisory council member

By ENS staff, February 05, 2011

[Episcopal News Service] President Barack Obama announced Feb. 4 that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori would be joining his administration as a member of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to be of service to the larger community in this way," Jefferts Schori said, according to a press release from the Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs. "The ability to build partnerships between civic and religious bodies can only expand our capacity to heal a broken world."

The council "brings together religious and secular leaders as well as scholars and experts in fields related to the work of faith-based and neighborhood organizations in order to make recommendations to the government on how to improve partnerships," a White House press release noted, adding that the president will announce additional members at a later date. Each council serves a one-year term.

Obama said, "I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

Also announced as one of the 11 new members to join the council is Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which shares a full communion partnership with the Episcopal Church.

The other new members are:

Susan Stern, named as chair of the council; special adviser on government affairs to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC);

Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals;

Andrea Bazán, president of Triangle Community Foundation;

Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer of Policy Link;

Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide;

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly;

Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of America;

Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration; and

Reverend Elder Nancy L. Wilson, moderator for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.

In February 2009, Obama established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to "work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs."

According to the White House website, the council is charged with: identifying best practices and successful modes of delivering social services; evaluating the need for improvements in the implementation and coordination of public policies relating to faith-based and neighborhood organizations; and making recommendations to the president and the administration on changes in policies, programs, and practices.

2011-01-31T19:28:00.001-08:00

A couple of nice pics

2011-01-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

2010-12-31T11:56:00.001-08:00

Presiding bishop celebrates small church's ministries, helps sea turtle go home

2010-12-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

"This says so much about our whole ministry of healing."

Christmas 2010

2010-12-17T19:23:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010

A message from the presiding bishop

By Katharine Jefferts Schori

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. —Isaiah 9:2

That's how the first lesson of Christmas Eve opens. It's familiar and comforting, as the familiar words go on to say that light has shined on those who live in deep darkness, that God has brought joy to people living under oppression, for a child has been borne to us. The name of that child is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace — and God is bringing an endless peace through an heir to the throne of David (vv 3, 4, 6, 7).

This year we're going to hear a bit we haven't heard in Episcopal churches before, in that missing verse 5. It's pretty shocking, but it helps explain why the hunger for light is so intense, and the joy so great when it comes: "For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire." The coming of this prince of peace will mean the end of all signs of war and violence. An occupied people will finally live in peace, without anxiety about who or what will confront them the next time they go out their front doors.

People in many parts of this world still live with the echo of tramping boots and the memory of bloody clothing. Many Episcopalians are living with that anxiety right now, particularly in Haiti and Sudan. Americans know it through the ongoing anxiety after September 11 and in the wounded soldiers returning to their families and communities, grievously changed by their experience of war. Remember the terror of war when you hear those words about light on Christmas Eve. Remember the hunger for peace and light when you hear the shocking promise that a poor child born in a stable will lead us all into a world without war. Remember the power of light when you go out into the darkness after hearing those words — and pray that you and those around you may become instruments of peace.

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors! —Luke 2:14

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori is presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church.

Advent Message

2010-11-27T12:21:00.001-08:00

Quote

2010-11-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

"The Episcopal Church has been waiting for decades for people to come through our beautiful red doors and then we'll turn them into Episcopalians,....This (mission-based ministry) is about the reverse. It's about leaving those red doors and going out into the community to meet people.....Congregations that focus primarily on Sunday morning ministry are missing a whole lot of people who are looking for community or are looking for the opportunity to worship and study and have fellowship together, but they can't do it on Sunday morning, or they won't do it on Sunday morning."

2010-10-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Presiding bishop discusses courage, challenge and uncertainty of leadership at California women's empowerment conference

2010-10-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes the rejection is overt," she added. She described the way she responded when Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said she could not wear her miter while preaching at Southwark Cathedral in England because women bishops were not yet allowed in the Church of England.

"I was informed before I arrived that I would not be permitted to wear my miter, my hat. I thought, this is pretty ridiculous; I thought I'm not going to offend the dean [of the cathedral], but I'm going to take my miter, I'm not going to let go of this symbol of my office. So I carried it," she said as the gathering cheered and applauded.
More here.

New Book Released

2010-10-22T19:17:00.001-07:00

"Happiness means using the blessings of the world for the benefit of all. None of us can be truly happy unless all are happy. In the reign of God, when God rules, when all are in right relationships, we will find the greatest happiness."

2010-10-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

KJS and the Dalai Lama amongst others at forum on happiness. Interfaith forum at Emory

KJS, Michelle Obama among speakers at Women's Conference

2010-10-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

Story here

Bishop Katharine is among the large list of business, entertainment, political, jourmalism and religious leaders set to appear at Maria Shriver's conference to empower women.

Great KJS Photo Gallery

2010-09-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

This site has some of the best KJS shots I've seen to date. Her many expressions are caught on film, courtesy of the Diocese of Arizona.

Vigil at the US/Mexico border

2010-09-18T15:59:00.001-07:00

Another shares a memory of KJS

2010-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Corvallis, good friends with Kate Schori (Harris) , daughter of Katharine and to escape the condemnation of my own family I found peace joy at the Schori's home. I continue to battle the stigma of mental illness and other contreversial subjects, but when things get real tough I remember back to when Kate's Mom would wear her gay... friendly button and I receive a brief reprieve. I am writing now to thank The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, for showing me that God is in the detail, sometimes even a button =)

Children's Procession "Marching in the Light of God"

2010-08-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

A Conversation with the Presiding Bishop

2010-07-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Interview for NC local news station

2010-07-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.wral.com/news/local/noteworthy/video/7827044/

KJS speaks about "Mitregate", Haiti, the Gulf oil leak, amongst other topics.

Visit to NZ

2010-06-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

"The freedom we have is to choose for those on the margins, to be in solidarity with the friendless and forgotten, the despised and the demonized. Exercising that freedom is almost always challenging – it annoys people who don’t see any need to change the status quo, it offends those in power, it challenges the ways of the world that say, 'me first.'" Visit to NZ story here.

Pastoral Message

2010-06-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

The serious and the not so serious KJS

2010-06-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

I just felt like putting these 2 photos together! Both great shots, courtesy of the Photos section of the "You Might Be An Episcopalian" Facebook page!

Interview with Bishop Curry

2010-06-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

"I was not to wear a mitre at Southwark Cathedral"

2010-06-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Dubbed "Mitregate", reaction abounds after KJS is asked by Lambeth and Rowan Williams not to wear her mitre. Full article here. Some reactions here.

Mitre or no mitre, she still a presiding bishop. I like this picture. The only kind of smoking that I like.

"Love has saved you – be at peace."

2010-06-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached June 13 during a service of Holy Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral in London, as part of a five-day visit to the U.K.
You can listen to it here.

The full text of the sermon follows.

I come from a notorious place. Gambling and prostitution are legal in Nevada. Ministry there means that many congregations host 12-step programs not just for alcoholics and drug addicts, but for those addicted to gambling. There are a few groups for sex addicts, too. A story quietly circulated when I was there, about a priest who encouraged the local madams and their employees to visit the churches he served. One congregation made a warm enough welcome that the women of the night returned frequently. Other congregations acted more like Jesus' fellow dinner guests – "who let her in here?" The women didn't return to those dinner tables.

I don't know what it's like in the Church of England, but in some circles the Episcopal Church has the reputation for being a place where you have to dress correctly, and know how to act – i.e., you really should know all the responses by heart, and how to find your way around the several books we use in worship – or you shouldn't even bother walking in the front door. Yes, I'll admit that there are a few places like that, where the local pew-sitters are more afraid than their potential guests, but there are lots more communities where all comers are not just invited, but welcomed with open arms.

I have an old friend, a quirky priest who's been a college chaplain for decades, who tells about the summer he traveled across the United States visiting different churches. He was camping, and didn't get a bath every day, but he talked about what a different reception he'd get when he wore his collar, even when he was grubby. The Bishop of Rhode Island spent part of her last sabbatical learning what it's like to live on the street. She tells about sleeping in homeless shelters in some of her own churches, and then going upstairs to church on Sunday morning. She was never recognized, but she learned a great deal about the welcome and unwelcome of different congregations.

It's hard work to get to the point where you're able and willing to see the Lord of love in the odorous street person next to you in the pew. It can be just as hard to find him in the unwelcoming host.

What makes us so afraid of the other? There's something in our ancient genetic memory that ratchets up our state of arousal when we meet a stranger – it's a survival mechanism that has kept our species alive for millennia by being wary about strangers. But there's also a piece of our makeup that we talk about in more theological terms – the part that leaps to judgment about that person's sins. It's connected to knowing our own sinfulness, and our tendency toward competition – well, she must be a worse sinner than I am – thank God!

That woman who wanders into Simon's house comes with her hair uncovered – "oh, scandal! She's clearly a woman of the street!" And she starts to act in profoundly embarrassing ways, crying all over Jesus' feet and cleaning up the tears with her hair. And, "oh Lord, now she's covering him with perfume! We can't have this in a proper house – what will people think? And I guess now we know just what sort of person this fellow is!"

The scorn that some are willing to heap on others because we think they've loved excessively or inappropriately is still pretty well known. Yet it is this woman's loving response to Jesus that brings her pardon, and Jesus' celebration of her right relationship with God. She doesn't even have to ask. Jesus seems to say that evidence of her pardon has already been given – full measure, pressed down, and overflowing – just like her tears and hair and cask of nard.

It's the same message Jesus offers over and over: "perfect love casts out fear" (1Jn 4:18). It's actually our fear of the wretchedness within our own souls that pushes us away from our sisters and brothers. Fear is the only thing that keeps us from knowing God's love – and we most often discover it in the people around us. Jesus wasn't afraid to eat with sinners, either Simon or the other dinner guests, and he wasn't afraid of what the woman of the city was going to do to his reputation.

The forgiven woman of the city is sister to the prodigal son. They are both our siblings. We can join that family if we're willing to let go of that fearful veneer of righteousness. It covers our yearning to be fully known, because we don't quite think we're lovable. That veneer is the only thing between us and a whole-hearted "welcome home." It's risky to let that veneer be peeled away, but all we risk is love.

That's what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Galatians. He knows that all his work at observing the fine points of the law is like piling up the layers in a piece of plywood. Those layers of veneer may make plywood strong, but in human beings they have to be peeled away, or maybe traded for transparent ones. The layers won't right our relationship with God. Love will. Paul says, "if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a sinner." The veneered self simply can't be vulnerable enough to receive the love that's being offered. Can we see the human heart yearning for love in that person over there? Can we recall our own yearning, and find the connection? That's what compassion is – opening ourselves to love.

Practicing compassion rather than judgment is one way the layers start to fly off. Think about all those dinner guests. The party's going to be far more interesting if we can find something to love about the curmudgeonly host and his buddies. Rejecting them is going to shut down any real possibility of compassion. It's risky, yes, but the only thing we risk is our own hearts, and the possibility they'll overflow as readily as that woman's tears. It's a big risk to let the layers go, but the only thing we risk is discovering a brother or sister under the skin.

Jesus invites us all to his moveable feast. He leaves that dinner party with Simon and goes off to visit other places in need of prodigal love and prodigious forgiveness. His companions, literally his fellow tablemates, are the 12 and "some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities." Hmmm. Strong, healthy women, and three of them are actually named here: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Together with many others they supported and fed the community – they became hosts of the banquet.

Those who know the deep acceptance and love that come with healing and forgiveness can lose the defensive veneer that wants to shut out other sinners. They discover that covering their hair or hiding their tears or hoarding their rich perfume isn't the way that the beloved act, even if it makes others nervous. Eventually it may even cure the anxious of their own fear by drawing them toward a seat at that heavenly banquet. There's room for us all at this table, there are tears of welcome and a kiss for the wanderer, and the sweet smell of home.

Want to join the feast? You are welcome here. Love has saved you – go in peace. Lean over and say the same to three strangers: you are welcome here. Love has saved you – be at peace.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I come from a notorious place. Gambling and prostitution are legal in Nevada. Ministry there means that many congregations host 12-step programs not just for alcoholics and drug addicts, but for those addicted to gambling. There are a few groups for sex addicts, too. A story quietly circulated when I was there, about a priest who encouraged the local madams and their employees to visit the churches he served. One congregation made a warm enough welcome that the women of the night returned frequently. Other congregations acted more like Jesus' fellow dinner guests – "who let her in here?" The women didn't return to those dinner tables.

I don't know what it's like in the Church of England, but in some circles the Episcopal Church has the reputation for being a place where you have to dress correctly, and know how to act – i.e., you really should know all the responses by heart, and how to find your way around the several books we use in worship – or you shouldn't even bother walking in the front door. Yes, I'll admit that there are a few places like that, where the local pew-sitters are more afraid than their potential guests, but there are lots more communities where all comers are not just invited, but welcomed with open arms.

I have an old friend, a quirky priest who's been a college chaplain for decades, who tells about the summer he traveled across the United States visiting different churches. He was camping, and didn't get a bath every day, but he talked about what a different reception he'd get when he wore his collar, even when he was grubby. The Bishop of Rhode Island spent part of her last sabbatical learning what it's like to live on the street. She tells about sleeping in homeless shelters in some of her own churches, and then going upstairs to church on Sunday morning. She was never recognized, but she learned a great deal about the welcome and unwelcome of different congregations.

It's hard work to get to the point where you're able and willing to see the Lord of love in the odorous street person next to you in the pew. It can be just as hard to find him in the unwelcoming host.

What makes us so afraid of the other? There's something in our ancient genetic memory that ratchets up our state of arousal when we meet a stranger – it's a survival mechanism that has kept our species alive for millennia by being wary about strangers. But there's also a piece of our makeup that we talk about in more theological terms – the part that leaps to judgment about that person's sins. It's connected to knowing our own sinfulness, and our tendency toward competition – well, she must be a worse sinner than I am – thank God!

That woman who wanders into Simon's house comes with her hair uncovered – "oh, scandal! She's clearly a woman of the street!" And she starts to act in profoundly embarrassing ways, crying all over Jesus' feet and cleaning up the tears with her hair. And, "oh Lord, now she's covering him with perfume! We can't have this in a proper house – what will people think? And I guess now we know just what sort of person this fellow is!"

The scorn that some are willing to heap on others because we think they've loved excessively or inappropriately is still pretty well known. Yet it is this woman's loving response to Jesus that brings her pardon, and Jesus' celebration of her right relationship with God. She doesn't even have to ask. Jesus seems to say that evidence of her pardon has already been given – full measure, pressed down, and overflowing – just like her tears and hair and cask of nard.

It's the same message Jesus offers over and over: "perfect love casts out fear" (1Jn 4:18). It's actually our fear of the wretchedness within our own souls that pushes us away from our sisters and brothers. Fear is the only thing that keeps us from knowing God's love – and we most often discover it in the people around us. Jesus wasn't afraid to eat with sinners, either Simon or the other dinner guests, and he wasn't afraid of what the woman of the city was going to do to his reputation.

The forgiven woman of the city is sister to the prodigal son. They are both our siblings. We can join that family if we're willing to let go of that fearful veneer of righteousness. It covers our yearning to be fully known, because we don't quite think we're lovable. That veneer is the only thing between us and a whole-hearted "welcome home." It's risky to let that veneer be peeled away, but all we risk is love.

That's what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Galatians. He knows that all his work at observing the fine points of the law is like piling up the layers in a piece of plywood. Those layers of veneer may make plywood strong, but in human beings they have to be peeled away, or maybe traded for transparent ones. The layers won't right our relationship with God. Love will. Paul says, "if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a sinner." The veneered self simply can't be vulnerable enough to receive the love that's being offered. Can we see the human heart yearning for love in that person over there? Can we recall our own yearning, and find the connection? That's what compassion is – opening ourselves to love.

Practicing compassion rather than judgment is one way the layers start to fly off. Think about all those dinner guests. The party's going to be far more interesting if we can find something to love about the curmudgeonly host and his buddies. Rejecting them is going to shut down any real possibility of compassion. It's risky, yes, but the only thing we risk is our own hearts, and the possibility they'll overflow as readily as that woman's tears. It's a big risk to let the layers go, but the only thing we risk is discovering a brother or sister under the skin.

Jesus invites us all to his moveable feast. He leaves that dinner party with Simon and goes off to visit other places in need of prodigal love and prodigious forgiveness. His companions, literally his fellow tablemates, are the 12 and "some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities." Hmmm. Strong, healthy women, and three of them are actually named here: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Together with many others they supported and fed the community – they became hosts of the banquet.

Those who know the deep acceptance and love that come with healing and forgiveness can lose the defensive veneer that wants to shut out other sinners. They discover that covering their hair or hiding their tears or hoarding their rich perfume isn't the way that the beloved act, even if it makes others nervous. Eventually it may even cure the anxious of their own fear by drawing them toward a seat at that heavenly banquet. There's room for us all at this table, there are tears of welcome and a kiss for the wanderer, and the sweet smell of home.

Want to join the feast? You are welcome here. Love has saved you – go in peace. Lean over and say the same to three strangers: you are welcome here. I come from a notorious place. Gambling and prostitution are legal in Nevada. Ministry there means that many congregations host 12-step programs not just for alcoholics and drug addicts, but for those addicted to gambling. There are a few groups for sex addicts, too. A story quietly circulated when I was there, about a priest who encouraged the local madams and their employees to visit the churches he served. One congregation made a warm enough welcome that the women of the night returned frequently. Other congregations acted more like Jesus' fellow dinner guests – "who let her in here?" The women didn't return to those dinner tables.

I don't know what it's like in the Church of England, but in some circles the Episcopal Church has the reputation for being a place where you have to dress correctly, and know how to act – i.e., you really should know all the responses by heart, and how to find your way around the several books we use in worship – or you shouldn't even bother walking in the front door. Yes, I'll admit that there are a few places like that, where the local pew-sitters are more afraid than their potential guests, but there are lots more communities where all comers are not just invited, but welcomed with open arms.

I have an old friend, a quirky priest who's been a college chaplain for decades, who tells about the summer he traveled across the United States visiting different churches. He was camping, and didn't get a bath every day, but he talked about what a different reception he'd get when he wore his collar, even when he was grubby. The Bishop of Rhode Island spent part of her last sabbatical learning what it's like to live on the street. She tells about sleeping in homeless shelters in some of her own churches, and then going upstairs to church on Sunday morning. She was never recognized, but she learned a great deal about the welcome and unwelcome of different congregations.

It's hard work to get to the point where you're able and willing to see the Lord of love in the odorous street person next to you in the pew. It can be just as hard to find him in the unwelcoming host.

What makes us so afraid of the other? There's something in our ancient genetic memory that ratchets up our state of arousal when we meet a stranger – it's a survival mechanism that has kept our species alive for millennia by being wary about strangers. But there's also a piece of our makeup that we talk about in more theological terms – the part that leaps to judgment about that person's sins. It's connected to knowing our own sinfulness, and our tendency toward competition – well, she must be a worse sinner than I am – thank God!

That woman who wanders into Simon's house comes with her hair uncovered – "oh, scandal! She's clearly a woman of the street!" And she starts to act in profoundly embarrassing ways, crying all over Jesus' feet and cleaning up the tears with her hair. And, "oh Lord, now she's covering him with perfume! We can't have this in a proper house – what will people think? And I guess now we know just what sort of person this fellow is!"

The scorn that some are willing to heap on others because we think they've loved excessively or inappropriately is still pretty well known. Yet it is this woman's loving response to Jesus that brings her pardon, and Jesus' celebration of her right relationship with God. She doesn't even have to ask. Jesus seems to say that evidence of her pardon has already been given – full measure, pressed down, and overflowing – just like her tears and hair and cask of nard.

It's the same message Jesus offers over and over: "perfect love casts out fear" (1Jn 4:18). It's actually our fear of the wretchedness within our own souls that pushes us away from our sisters and brothers. Fear is the only thing that keeps us from knowing God's love – and we most often discover it in the people around us. Jesus wasn't afraid to eat with sinners, either Simon or the other dinner guests, and he wasn't afraid of what the woman of the city was going to do to his reputation.

The forgiven woman of the city is sister to the prodigal son. They are both our siblings. We can join that family if we're willing to let go of that fearful veneer of righteousness. It covers our yearning to be fully known, because we don't quite think we're lovable. That veneer is the only thing between us and a whole-hearted "welcome home." It's risky to let that veneer be peeled away, but all we risk is love.

That's what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Galatians. He knows that all his work at observing the fine points of the law is like piling up the layers in a piece of plywood. Those layers of veneer may make plywood strong, but in human beings they have to be peeled away, or maybe traded for transparent ones. The layers won't right our relationship with God. Love will. Paul says, "if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a sinner." The veneered self simply can't be vulnerable enough to receive the love that's being offered. Can we see the human heart yearning for love in that person over there? Can we recall our own yearning, and find the connection? That's what compassion is – opening ourselves to love.

Practicing compassion rather than judgment is one way the layers start to fly off. Think about all those dinner guests. The party's going to be far more interesting if we can find something to love about the curmudgeonly host and his buddies. Rejecting them is going to shut down any real possibility of compassion. It's risky, yes, but the only thing we risk is our own hearts, and the possibility they'll overflow as readily as that woman's tears. It's a big risk to let the layers go, but the only thing we risk is discovering a brother or sister under the skin.

Jesus invites us all to his moveable feast. He leaves that dinner party with Simon and goes off to visit other places in need of prodigal love and prodigious forgiveness. His companions, literally his fellow tablemates, are the 12 and "some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities." Hmmm. Strong, healthy women, and three of them are actually named here: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Together with many others they supported and fed the community – they became hosts of the banquet.

Those who know the deep acceptance and love that come with healing and forgiveness can lose the defensive veneer that wants to shut out other sinners. They discover that covering their hair or hiding their tears or hoarding their rich perfume isn't the way that the beloved act, even if it makes others nervous. Eventually it may even cure the anxious of their own fear by drawing them toward a seat at that heavenly banquet. There's room for us all at this table, there are tears of welcome and a kiss for the wanderer, and the sweet smell of home.

Want to join the feast? You are welcome here. Love has saved you – go in peace. Lean over and say the same to three strangers: you are welcome here. Love has saved you – be at peace.

KJS vs. ABC

2010-06-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has described the decision by Lambeth Palace to remove Episcopalians serving on international ecumenical dialogues as "unfortunate ... It misrepresents who the Anglican Communion is." Story here:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_122744_ENG_HTM.htm

KJS on the Oil Spill in the Gulf

2010-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on the environment and the interconnectiveness of man and nature and the warnings of abusing the earth, as an oceangrapher and faith leader:
Huffington Post article

The same article here at Episcopal Life.

History being made: 1 female presiding bishop consecrating 2 female bishops!

2010-05-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Diane Bruce, Mary Glasspool consecrated bishops in joyous celebration in Los Angeles diocese. Glasspool is the first openly lesbian to be consecrated a bishop.

"We put her up on a little hill so she can look down at all the plants and protect them and nurture them."

2010-05-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_122063_ENG_HTM.htm
LOS ANGELES: How does our garden grow? With a blessing from the presiding bishop

Episcopal school spreads hope through community service project

By Pat McCaughan, May 05, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] Each weekday 10-year-old Elena Forbath eagerly looks up to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori — or at least an image of her — while checking the organic garden at the Gooden School in Sierra Madre, California, in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

"I like to see what's growing big. The squash and tomatoes and Swiss chard are growing like crazy. We already pulled the beets," said Elena during a May 4 telephone interview.

The organic garden project, dubbed the Garden of Hope, afforded Elena and other fifth graders at the K-8 Episcopal-affiliated school lessons in science and the environment, community service and the Millennium Development Goals, and a little bit about the Episcopal Church thrown in for good measure.

That's because the presiding bishop gave them permission to use her image for the garden scarecrow.

"I know she's the head bishop of the Episcopal Church. She's the head bishop over all the other bishops," Elena said. "It's really nice to see her every day."

Marianne Ryan, the assistant head of school, said the idea for the garden grew out of her doctoral thesis project at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

"Last summer when I was imagining this project, I thought of Katharine Jefferts Schori," she said during a May 4 telephone interview. "I admire her and thought, being a biologist, she's interested in the environment.

"So we had the fifth graders research her on the Internet. They were excited to learn about her. They thought it was wonderful she was a pilot," Ryan recalled.

"Each student wrote a letter and told her a little bit about themselves and our project and wondered if we could use her likeness as the scarecrow. We sent her pictures of the project. She wrote back a very lovely letter and agreed to be our scarecrow," Ryan said.

"She looks very real," added Ryan.

She said that assembling the scarecrow became a community effort. A local artist, Steve O'Loughlin, created the presiding bishop's face while others pitched in to build a stand, sew the vestments, and even replicate a crozier and mitre.

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles was on hand April 29 to officially bless the garden, with a few sprigs of parsley (from the garden) and holy water. "It worked very well, we were able to get the holy water all the way to the garden," said Ryan.

"The Presiding Bishop had told us her favorite color was blue, so we made her vestments blue, the ribbons around the garden were blue and every 5th grader took part in cutting the ribbon," Ryan recalled.

The presiding bishop good-naturedly agreed to the project, saying in a statement, "I am delighted that Gooden School is encouraging their students to learn more about our interconnectedness with all of God's creation!"

To that end, the garden is already whopping success, said Ted Forbath, Elena's father.

"The kids were so engaged in nurturing their part of the earth and they were so excited about watching the growing process," he said. "Each day when Elena is dropped off at school, she takes us to the garden to see the progress."

He added that the students "are very proud to be helping it to grow. For them, it wasn't about eating the produce, it was about the loving and nurturing and eventual sharing."

And they had an opportunity to do just that, when they loaded their first harvest -- Swiss chard, tomatoes and beets — into cars for a recent field trip to the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches (ECPAC).

ECPAC offers a food pantry through its Friends in Deed program, said the Rev. Pat O'Reilly, director.

"We gave them a tour and explained to them how we distribute food, how much we get, why we need the food from the garden," O'Reilly, an Episcopal priest, said during a May 5 telephone interview from her Pasadena office. "We told them that people are just scraping by, that we're trying to prevent people from going hungry and that fresh fruits and vegetables are a treat for them."

O'Reilly said that the food pantry is feeding nearly twice the number of people it did two years ago. In 2008, the agency, a consortium of churches in the Pasadena area, fed 1,300 people a month. "Last month we fed 2,500," she said.

The economic slump has created a ripple effect: "We're finding that grocery stores are ordering less, so they have less surplus to donate," which has affected the agency's ability to serve those in need.

"They told us that because of the garden, people could have fresh vegetables and herbs," said Elena Forbath about her trip to ECPAC. "It's important for them to have healthy food instead of just canned goods. I just hope the garden gets bigger and bigger."

O'Reilly said there's an important lesson for adults, as well as children.

"We all focus on our own little communities most of the time. We think the whole world looks like our community. Often we don't know there are others who live very differently from us and don't have all their needs met.

She said the Gooden School's Garden of Hope is "a model for other schools, other programs and other individuals, to start gardens and to donate their produce. It's an opportunity to do what you love and to help someone else.

"It's important to open the eyes of children at that age because they are full of compassion. It's important to let them know they can make a difference in the daily life of others. That life is about giving and loving and serving and not just acquiring for yourself."

Borrowing the presiding bishop's image for the garden's scarecrow demonstrates the church's support, which is crucial, O'Reilly added.

"After all, this is about fulfilling one of the Millennium Development Goals, to eradicate poverty. It's important that the church backs us up and says we're behind you, that what we need to do as Christians is to love and serve in every way we can, to help each other through this difficult time. I think she's great."

For Elena Forbath, the presiding bishop is more than great. "She's really cool. She has squash and tomatoes and eggplants on her clothes and on her hat is a little jeweled cross.

"We put her up on a little hill so she can look down at all the plants and protect them and nurture them."

-- The Rev. Pat McCaughan is a national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service. She is based in Los Angeles.

Feed My Sheep

2010-04-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON: Presiding bishop visits Welcome Table ministry

By Teresa Hobgood, April 26, 2010
Church of the Epiphany] "Each and every one of you is a shepherd," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefforts Schori told nearly 150 parishioners, the Welcome Table choir, and homeless men and women gathered to participate the Welcome Table service April 25 at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C.

Epiphany was one of the presiding bishop's stops during her April 23-25 visit to the Diocese of Washington. She also visited St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square and St. George's Episcopal Church in St. Mary's County, Maryland.

Though skies were overcast and rain fell gently, the pews inside Epiphany were filled with warmth and light. Focusing much of her sermon on sheep and shepherds, Jefferts Schori said, "Shepherds in the ancient world and even today do hard, dirty work. For Jesus to call himself a good shepherd is sort of an insult. Shepherds weren't people that good Jews came out with in the first century. They did dirty work, and they didn't observe the law. They weren't welcome in the temple."

Noting that people still herd sheep today, the presiding bishop said she comes from Nevada where, at one time, lots of the shepherds were Basque.

"One hundred years ago, they came here from Europe to watch sheep, and they lived out there in the dirt in the desert for months and months on end," she said. "Today, those shepherds come from Peru and places south of us. They are still out there doing that kind of hard work -- making sure the sheep are not eaten by coyotes; that the mother sheep get help with their lambs; that they find pasture and clean water."

Jefferts Schori shared a story in Spanish about a Peruvian shepherd who spent a lot of time on the trail; who had "lot of guts, but no cash." Jesus, the Good Shepherd, she said, "is out there on the trail, doing the dirty work, inviting people to the table, to the feast, calling each one of us by name."

"We need more good shepherds who are willing to go out there and invite everybody to the feast. We need more good shepherds in Congress. We need more good shepherds in schools. We need more good shepherds in the choir. We need more good shepherds on the streets. Each and every one of us is both a sheep and a shepherd," she said.

Toward the end of her homily, Jefferts Schori spoke of the scripture passage in which a voice from heaven describes Jesus as "beloved."

"When Jesus calls us, we are supposed to be able to hear him calling," she said. "Do you hear him when he calls you beloved? Each and every one of us, Beloved? Well, that is what Jesus heard when he was baptized... 'in you I am well pleased.' Beloved, Beloved. Come follow. Gather up your brothers and sisters. Come to the table. Come to the table…Welcome."

Before Epiphany's 8:00 a.m. service, Jefferts Schori spent time with the parish's Bible study class and she engaged a lively group of homeless men and women and other participants in Epiphany's Gospel Art! program, where she accepted drawings from the participants. She also spent time in the kitchen, serving butter-laden grits to nearly 100 homeless men and women and parishioners. She also talked with a group of homeless men in the parish hall, answering their questions about her family and how she became a bishop.

Young people from the Chapel of the Cross, an Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill, North Carolina were also visiting Epiphany during the 8:00 am service and lent their hands with breakfast, Gospel Art! and the Welcome Table choir. More information about the Welcome Table ministry is available here.

-- Teresa Hobgood is a member of the Church of the Epiphany and serves on the Welcome Table Ministry Team.

What do KJS and Barbie have in common?

2010-04-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

A woman Episcopal priest (who happens to have dressmaking skills) gave another woman Episcopal priest a homemade gift. The gift was (what else?) an Episcopal Priest Barbie.
The doll has a complete set of vestments for every Church season and function. She has thousands of fans on Facebook. Her church is St. Barbara's-by-the-Sea in Malibu. I find it funny that Rev. Barbie "went" to the Church Divinity School of the Pacific- the same seminary as KJS went to. Boy, that school turns out some fine priests!
While many are having fun with this story, some are working it into Church matters and criticism. KJS gets tied into the Barbie story here.
You can see more of Rev. Barbie's wardrobe here.
As far as I know, Rev. Barbie and fellow alumnus KJS haven't met yet. Maybe at the next General Convention?

Maybe she'll show up looking like this?

Easter Vigil Sermon

2010-04-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

Easter Vigil

Christ Church, Binghamton, New York

Episcopal Diocese of Central New York

April 3, 2010

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

What are you most afraid of? What wakes you up in the middle of the night? For some here tonight it's probably about where the next paycheck will come from. I have one friend who's just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and another whose son is in jail for statutory rape. For almost all of us, there is some primordial fear linked to thoughts about our freedom and our own mortality.

Fear can keep us from life and hope, and any possibility of new creation. I've known people who died a lot younger than they probably should have, because they just weren't able to acknowledge that their symptoms were signs of something serious. It was somehow easier to ignore that intuitive knowledge than it was to face the possibility and get more information, like going to the doctor.

We've been haunted this week by the story of an Irish immigrant girl in South Hadley who committed suicide because her classmates taunted her so unmercifully. She saw no hope.

Fear could paralyze the people of Haiti, but they go on, with the help of their friends, working yet one more time to build a society of abundance for all.

Fear could have stopped Martin Luther King that night after his house was bombed. But that experience of violence led him deeper into his conviction that God had something else in mind. He went forward in hope, even though it led to his death 42 years ago in Memphis.

Your own American Civic Association is going forward, even more deeply committed to helping new generations of immigrants and refugees. The deaths here a year ago could have been the end of that work of building community, but the fear engendered in the shootings did not prevail.

We're here tonight looking for hope.

We're here tonight to hear the old, old story of God bringing life out of death, and finding a new way through the fear that so often paralyzes us.

The ancient prophets have two responses to that kind of terror: "fear not, for God is with you," and "learn wisdom." We just heard each of those comfortable words twice. Moses says to his traumatized band, "don't be afraid, stand firm, God will deliver you." Zephaniah says to a much later band of depressed and terrified people, that the day will come when they will hear that “God has turned away your enemies, there’s no need to fear disaster any more. Don’t be afraid, God is with you.”

Isaiah and Baruch both talk about Wisdom -- and it's important to know that Wisdom is a personification of God. If God is the architect of creation, then Wisdom is its builder or crafter, and she's often spoken of as hosting a feast, which is what we hear in Isaiah, "turn in here and get what you need -- wine, milk, bread. Come and feast and return to God." Baruch speaks of befriending wisdom in order to find peace -- or in other words, the absence of fear.

In a few minutes we'll hear the oldest gospel account we have of the Resurrection (Mark). It tells about Mary Magdalene, another Mary, and Salome, coming to the tomb at dawn and finding it empty. The angel tells them, "fear not, he's not here, go find him in Galilee. He's waiting for you there." "Fear not, for God is with you." But they flee the tomb and run away, terrified.

Yet somehow those women at the tomb found the strength and courage to tell their story. They turned in at wisdom's door and discovered peace. We only know the good news of Easter because they told of their frightful encounter. Wisdom's invitation keeps on going out: "turn in here, join the feast, find blessing, life, light, and peace."

We still struggle to find the courage to tell frightening news. My friend who's just gotten the cancer diagnosis announced it in an email blast like this, "It is against my religion to share extremely personal information or to ask anyone for help, but the Universe has sent me a lesson here and it’s time for me to start learning it." I find it intriguing that she'd start that way -- and it's a reminder that religion doesn't always tell good news. I think she means that she wants to be self-sufficient, and not dependent on others. But she goes on to tie it to a sense of being connected to all that is. It's an echo of that ancient teaching, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." That "fear of the Lord" is an unfortunate translation in the old King James, because it actually means something more like a "deep awareness of God's otherness" or "being in awe of the Creator's majestic work." Yet it is that sense of awe and connection to all that is that encourages any of us to turn in at Wisdom's door and join the feast.

That's what Jesus did over and over again. He insisted that God's intent is for a feast for all people, not just the rulers of the Roman empire. He healed and fed and welcomed people who had been put out of the feast by religious rules or their own suffering. At the end of his ministry, he turned his face toward Jerusalem and the feast that waited for him there -- a feast he celebrated with his disciples in an upper room, and continued through the ages in the banquet we're going to share here -- but also the feast of his own life, made holy in its offering. He went to Jerusalem to challenge the un-wise, who insist that power, rules of exclusion, and violence rule this world. Jesus offered an alternative kingdom, where all are welcome to the feast, none is excluded, and no one lives in fear or want.

We all hunger for that feast. We search for a link with something or someone beyond our limited or painful or excluded experience. We have a deep yearning to transcend the nothingness of death, to bring meaning into what we most fear.

Fear not, for God is with us. Christ is risen, trampling down death, entering into hell to search for those who can find no way out, going ahead to wait for his disciples. Fear not, and join the feast created before the beginning of the world.

Sermon to the Lexington Diocese, Feb 26, 2010 "Dream the Dream"

2010-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Katharine Jefferts-Schori Friday Lexington Diocesan Convention Sermon from Chris Kelley on Vimeo.

More pics- KJS and Church Youth

2010-02-28T14:53:00.000-08:00

Someone's encounter with KJS

2010-02-27T06:36:00.000-08:00

I met her in Australia, years ago, when she was the Bishop of Nevada - basically, my bishop was making a very public statement to the whole of the Anglican Church in Australia, in his support of women bishops, so invited her out to speak at our diocese's Clergy conference, but being a parishioner of the Cathedral, I was able to hear her preach there too - which was wonderful.

She was wonderful then, and to be honest, my science mad then 5 year old daughter was most impressed with her oceanography background...and in the midst of clergy everywhere after the service, she ignored them to sit and talk science with my daughter.

Well, this is an awkward pairing!

2010-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

I don't have any info on this poster or who made it up- wish I did!

Surrounded by icons

2010-02-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori poses for her portrait after being elected in 2006 as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the first female primate of the Anglican Communion.

Prayer

2010-02-25T18:45:00.001-08:00

From 2007- Praying in Zanzibar with Anglican Primates.

Baptism

2010-02-25T18:26:00.001-08:00

Nice pic of KJS baptizing a baby. This is from the Vergers' Guild brochure.

Lenten Message 2010

2010-02-21T19:48:00.001-08:00

Visit to Haiti after the earthquake

2010-02-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

KJS visited the Diocese of Haiti after the devastating earthquake, which leveled many of it's buildings and killed many people. Story below, and link is here.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori paid a poignant visit to Port-au-Prince Feb. 8 to survey with Episcopal Diocese of Haiti Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin the devastation wrought by the Jan. 12 magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

After climbing over the ruins of the diocese's Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral), the presiding bishop turned to Duracin and said "You should skip Lent this year; you have already had your Good Friday."
"Yes, we can all sing Alleluias together," Duracin replied, according to the Rev. Lauren Stanley, who accompanied Jefferts Schori on her five-hour visit.
Pointing to some of the cathedral's 13 bells that were visible among the ruins and that appeared to be salvageable, Jefferts Schori said "they will ring again" and that the cathedral "will rise again," according to Stanley.
While at the cathedral, Jefferts Schori and Duracin said prayers at what the Haitian bishop is calling the diocese's "open-air cathedral," which consists of some plastic sheeting stretched over a frame of two-by-fours that shelters some pews rescued from the cathedral ruins.
The two bishops each prayed aloud with those who happened to be at the site. Some of the older women members of the cathedral were combing the ruins for pieces of the building's world-famous murals depicting biblical stories in Haitian motifs. The gathered congregation also sang "How Great Thou Art" in French, Stanley said.
During the visit, Stanley said, Duracin asked her to "tell the world that physically the church is broken, but the church is still there in faith. Our faith is still strong."
She said the bishop asked for the support of Episcopalians everywhere to help Haitians rebuild the structures of the church because that work "will have a positive impact on our faith. It will bring us courage, confidence and a good future."
"We are approaching Lent," Stanley quoted Duracin as saying. "I ask people to be with us in the desert so that on Easter, all of us in Haiti and all the Episcopal Church may sing together in joy: 'Alleluia, Alleluia, the Lord is risen indeed.'"
The trip was also meant for Jefferts Schori and Duracin to talk about the immediate and future directions of the diocese. The presiding bishop assured Duracin that the entire Episcopal Church stood with his diocese in prayer and support, and would continue to do so, according to Stanley.
Stanley is one of four Episcopal Church missionaries assigned to Haiti and the only one who was not in-country at the time of the Jan. 12 quake. Duracin has asked Stanley to help the diocese coordinate offers of relief and recovery made by others in the Episcopal Church, and to tell the diocese's story.
Stanley said part of the discussion in Port-au-Prince centered on how she can continue to assist Duracin and the diocese by splitting her time between Haiti and the U.S. As part of that work, she will continue to help coordinate the work of Episcopalians elsewhere in the church who have interests in or connections with specific places and ministries in Haiti, she said.
Stanley said she was gratified to hear Duracin's confidence in her ability to help the diocese connect more strongly with "our partners who are working together to help God's beloved children in Haiti."
Stanley, who spoke with ENS by phone from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, after the visit, said that Duracin wanted the presiding bishop to see the extent of the devastation the diocese suffered. While the full extent of damage is still being assessed, it is clear that most of the diocese's churches and schools were destroyed or heavily damaged. The convent of the Sisters of St. Margaret, adjacent to the cathedral, was also destroyed.The lost schools include the Holy Trinity complex of primary, music and trade schools next to the demolished diocesan cathedral, the university and the seminary. A portion of the St. Vincent School for Handicapped Children, also in the Haitian capital, collapsed. Students and possibly staff were killed at some of the schools.
Stanley said that Duracin, Jefferts Schori and she visited the Holy Trinity school complex, the Episcopal University and the survivors' camp on a rocky field at College Ste. Pierre, a diocesan school destroyed by the quake. (The diocese, known locally as L'Eglise Episcopale d'Haiti, is caring for about 25,000 Haitians in roughly 20 makeshift camps around the country. Since the quake, many people have left the capital for the countryside.)
The three also surveyed Duracin's home which collapsed in the quake, trapping and severely injuring his wife, Marie-Edithe. Duracin has told ENS that he is been spending his night sleeping in a tent outside another home that he was having built for his family.
The Rev. Kesner Ajax, head of the diocese's Bishop Tharp Institute of Business and Technology (BTI) in Les Cayes, drove the three around the city. Everywhere they went they saw evidence of destruction and death, Stanley said.
The Holy Trinity music school once housed the country's only concert hall, but now "you can see where it came smashing straight down and there are still bodies of our students in there as well," Stanley said.
Duracin told them that "this is why we cannot just use a bulldozer" to clear the wreckage.
There is a common grave just outside of the Episcopal University and Stanley said they stopped to pray at that grave. One of the lower level classrooms that was destroyed usually had more than 100 students in it, she said, but only nine bodies have been found. People are going through the rubble by hand searching for the dead.
Meanwhile, just outside the university, authorities from a nearby police station have set up an outdoor holding cell for prisoners, Stanley said.
At the diocesan trade school, only the façade is still standing, Stanley said.
"There nothing left except bodies," she said. "We could actually see one body at the ruins."
Stanley said: "It was heart-wrenching to see the city that I love -- to see the things that this church has done for so many years that makes me so proud to be an Episcopalian in Haiti -- totally gone," Stanley said. "It is beyond heart-breaking. I don't have adequate words to describe the devastation."
Jefferts Schori flew to Santo Domingo on Feb. 7 from Havana, Cuba, after being a co-consecrator at the Rev. Griselda Delgado Del Carpio's consecration and ordination as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. The service ended the Cuban church's synod meeting during which a large number of parishes donated money for Haitian Episcopalians, according to Archdeacon Paul Feheley, principal secretary to Canadian primate Fred Hiltz who chairs the Cuba Metropolitan Council. Jeffets Schori and Stanley, who met her in the Dominican Republic capital, flew into Port-au-Prince the next day for the visit.
They brought with them a number of gifts and supplies for Duracin and the diocese, including six episcopal clergy shirts for the bishop that were a gift from the Church Pension Group, three liturgical stoles and 3,000 communion wafers from the presiding bishop, and pants and socks for Duracin and a bottle of Taylor tawny port communion wine from Stanley.
She also gave the bishop an alb and cincture that was purchased by Rhonda Busch, an administrator at Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Virginia. The church, where Stanley was priested and which still supports her missionary work, offered a requiem mass Feb. 4 for the victims of the earthquake who were members of the Church of St. James the Just in Pétionville, Haiti. Stanley serves the English-speaking congregation there. "In our culture it is very important that the leader look like a leader," Stanley said. "In the church in Haiti, it's very important that the bishop look like the bishop because when he is properly dressed and properly vested then we know that he can take care of us and we know that we have not been forgotten."
Duracin told Stanley that the bread and wine will be used Feb. 12 during the Episcopal Church's part of the nationwide prayer services planned to mark the one month anniversary of the earthquake.
Stanley also brought with her a nearly 150-year-old brass cross that had once been part of a processional cross used by missionaries. She was given the cross by the Goodson family of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, whose members attend St. Paul's Episcopal Church there. While looking through the rubble at College Ste. Pierre, Stanley said, the presiding bishop found a staff that might have been a short processional cross or a verger's wand and which the three discovered fit the cross perfectly.

Collection of Quotes

2010-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thing She Just Said

Good collection of KJS quotes PDF file

Worth repeating

2010-01-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

A lengthy interview for Idaho Public TV, November 27, 2008

Dialogue

KJS on health and wellness

2010-01-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.cpg.org/productsservices/healthplans.cfm

She's an inspiration to eat right, get fit, respect your "temple" so you can be physically and spiritually healthy.

KJS sermon at prayer service for Haiti

2010-01-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

Homily at prayer service for Haiti, at Washington National Cathedral here.

"God does not cause suffering or punish people with it, but God is present and known more intimately in the midst of suffering. Above all, we become more human through our broken hearts."

Bishop Katharine and Episcopal Relief and Development react to the Haiti earthquake tragedy

2010-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

Have "A Wing and a Prayer" for Lent!

2010-01-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

A priest and author named the Rev. Lisa Belcher Hamilton has written reflections and spiritual excercises for Lent by using the book "A Wing and A Prayer." It is a great companion to the book. Although this "study guide" was written a couple of years ago now, it is timeless and I plan on using it for Lent this year. There happens to be 40 essays in "Wing"- one for each day of Lent. The idea is to read an essay a day and use the Rev. Hamilton's guide to reflect on the essay and on your own faith. You can access the page here.

Someone sharing their encounter with KJS:

2010-01-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

I met Bishop Schori in December 08...it was a very profound and proud moment...she is such a soft-spoken yet strong presence in the Episcopal Church.....by the way...she had NO entourage when I met her, she was walking alone from her hotel to the convention center in Riverside, Ca...she stopped to speak to a lady in a wheelchair, ..I waited until she was finished, then I approached, asked if I might speak to her, she said "absolutely, I'd love to speak with you"...I had a private one on one conversation with her that lasted just minutes, but will forever live with me and I treasure our photo taken together. When I addressed her as "Bishop Schori", she said..."Katharine, please, just Katharine". What a woman,what an inspiration, what a gift!! Keep us strong and move us on, Katharine!! God Bless you!

Dynamic Duo: KJS with husband Richard

2010-01-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

More pics...just because...

2010-01-11T07:09:00.001-08:00

Presiding Bishop receives honorary doctorate in Liberia

2010-01-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

Another Degree for KJS!

My Two Bishops

2010-01-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize until recently that my bishop (Rodney Michel, Acting Bishop of the Diocese of PA) is in this photo from when KJS was installed in 2006. He's the one near the top right corner, bald with glasses. I am blessed to have met both these great bishops!
LIFE Magazine has some stunning photos from that day in this gallery too: http://www.life.com/search/?type=images&q0=katharine+jefferts+schori&page=1

Presiding Bishop urges Liberian Anglicans to 'help each child in this nation'

2010-01-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_118109_ENG_HTM.htm

You Tube series where KJS answers questions from clergy- very good!

2010-01-03T15:24:00.001-08:00

Another Pic

2009-12-31T07:09:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist posting this, it's from the official Episcopal Church PB page. Nice! Wish it was bigger!

This prayer/poem was printed on the KJS Installation bulletin

2009-12-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

Picture and a Quote

2009-12-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

General Convention Pic from this summer

2009-12-22T18:17:00.001-08:00

You Tube madness

2009-12-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

I was just randomly looking around You Tube for some posting material. Though this is clearly a anti-KJS sentiment, I thought I'd post it just for novelty's sake.. I respect that he can put a song together but he can use some singing lessons..yikes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_knN0c7I0A

Running On Faith

2009-12-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

A nice article from Runner's World magazine showing the athletic side to KJS:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-369-374--12358-0,00.html

A photo, just because....

2009-12-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

KJS: Presiding Bishop, Sheep, Shepherd.

2009-12-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

"I want to follow the Jesus who went to the graveyard and invited Lazarus back into life … who was willing to be taught by a foreign woman that he was supposed to give her good news, too. And I want to follow the Jesus who hung out with the wrong people, and challenged 'the right people' to re-examine their categories."

This was said by KJS during a visit to Dallas. There, she had a dialogue with Bishop Frey, who is considered a "more conservative" Episcopalian, and perhaps the polar opposite of KJS in many ways. Still they were able to speak rationally and amicably in front of hundreds who came. The talk, or "debate" ended with a hug.

Also from that day:

The Presiding Bishop described a postcard she keeps on her desk at the Episcopal Church Center, of a Navajo shepherd as an image of Jesus that speaks powerfully, yet humbly, to her.
"It's from a black-and-white photograph that was taken in 1925 near Shiprock, New Mexico," she told the gathering at St. Michael's & All Angels.
"Most of the sky is covered with dark clouds, but there is light in the distance on the horizon. The herd isn't all that big, but it has white sheep and black sheep, sheep with long hair and short, lambs and old ones. The shepherd is looking out over the backs of her sheep far into the distance. It's both reassurance and invitation for me, reminder that the good shepherd has all of us in his ken, and yet each one of those sheep, each of us, is called to similar kinds of shepherding on his behalf."

During the visit, she also dedicated a "jubilee center", an outreach ministry which benefits scores of children.

"The Door Has Been Open For Many Years"

2009-12-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

Only a few weeks after this interview with NPR took place, the Diocese of Los Angeles elected an openly gay female for bishop.

To listen to the interview, go here:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/223/0/1578612/WABE.Features/Episcopal.Presiding.Bishop.Says.Door.Still.Open.to.Gay.Bishops
Full text of the interview is here:
November 16, 2009By Denis O'Hayer

6 years ago, Eugene Robinson became the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. But internal battles continue. Some parishes left the church, to join other parts of the Anglican Communion. This summer, the church's General Convention resolved that the screening process for new bishops is open to gays and lesbians. Two years ago, Episcopal leaders had said they'd hold off on gay bishops. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told WABE's Denis O'Hayer that's not a contradiction.

KJS: We did not see that as a reversal. The Canons or the Church Law of The Episcopal Church has for a long time said that the discernment process is open to any baptized person. So it does not represent a change. It represents a reaffirmation of what church law has said for a long time. It did not say anything about repudiating the statement that the bishops made in 2007.

NPR: So the bottom line is it fair to say that at least the door has been opened for gay and lesbian bishops in addition to Bishop Robinson.

KJS: The door has been open for many years.

NPR: So if an openly gay or lesbian person were to make it through to the stage where he or she could be consecrated bishop you would go ahead with that.

KJS: It is my duty, my canonical duty as Presiding Bishop, to take order for the consecration of a bishop whose election has been affirmed by the consent process.

NPR: The Archbishop of Canterbury said that we need to have a real thorough exploration of all of this and we need to have a wider consent within the communion in order to go ahead with either the consecration of gay bishops or blessings of gay unions. He said that does not exist in the communion right now. How do you feel about that?

KJS: The conversations been going on in The Episcopal Church for 45 years. The reality is that same-sex unions are blessed in many churches of the Anglican Communion. Not just in the United States or Canada, but in the Church of England. Not officially but that is reality.

NPR: Do you think there is scriptural basis for what the convention did and what is it.

KJS: The scriptural basis for what the convention affirmed about our discernment process is that each human being is made in the image of God.

NPR: I think perhaps for some folks the distinction is not about how one is made but how one behaves. All of the arguments I've read center around behavior, ways of acting, is there a difference between the two?

KJS: In some circumstances yes. My experience in talking to people about this is that some people who object to the ordination of gay and lesbian people really begin with their orientation. They cannot see beyond that. Others will admit that gay and lesbian people might be created in the image of god and be fit mattered whatever their orientation. But object to the fact that some live in partnered relationships. What the church is really called to do is support all its members in living holy lives as exemplars of God's love in the world. I think the biggest challenge we're having right now is knowing what holy living looks like. We do not reject people who give evidence of gluttony; we do not prima facie reject people who give evidence of excessive consumerism. I think those are far more challenging issues than long-term committed relationships of a person with the same gender.

NPR: You said in a conversation with me last year that approaching people who disagree we need to be in conversation and that's not lobbing words at each other its listening to each other. What would you say to somebody who says ‘ok this vote by the general convention is not conversation but a form of escalation'?

KJS: Legislative processes are not terrible conducive to conversation when we push something to a vote we create winners and losers. The decisions of General Convention last summer I don't honestly believe pushed things any farther. We simply re-iterated what the standards of this church are at this time.

NPR: That is not what at least some of those who've been unhappy with it are saying their saying ‘this is legislation this is top down and it is going in the wrong direction.'

KJS: It's hard to understand General Convention as being top down. It's nearly 1,000, its more than a 1000 people gathered together representing the broad diversity of this Church, seeking discernment in the name of Christ together. It's not an archbishop saying this is how things must be.

NPR: You've probably also hear people saying, 'this is going too slowly. If this is right, why not just do it the people who are gonna leave are gonna leave any why'?

KJS: Our tradition has been called the middle way for a very long time and its attention to the fact that we are called to deliberate action. Considered action. And it doesn't happen as fast as some would like it. It happens faster than others would like.

NPR: But in the mean time you are spending more and more of your resources on legal battles. Doesn't that take away from what the church should really be about?

KJS: The reality is that this is a portion of our mission. Preserving the assets of our church is a part of our responsibility. It's certainly not the whole of our responsibility. There are abundant resources for the work of the gospel. Our task is to focus on the ways they can be most productive.

NPR: Pope Benedict has said that or has started a process of really opening the door easing the process for Anglicans or Episcopalians who want to leave in groups and become Roman Catholics. They could keep their churches, they could keep much of the liturgy, they could keep the clergy, even married clergy. This is obviously still in the works, but how do you see that? Do you see that as an open challenge to The Episcopal Church?

KJS: No, there've been provisions that are effectively identical for nearly 30 years in the United States. Yes, some clergy have departed The Episcopal Church, some Episcopalians have departed The Episcopal Church for the Roman church. On the other hand, Roman Catholic clergy and people join The Episcopal Church. One of the Bishops in Florida says that the road between Canterbury and Rome is well traveled and our job is to make sure the stop lights work. I really don't think this is going to have any significant impact on the church in the United States or in the other parts of the world where The Episcopal Church exists. Despite these provisions, my understanding is that there are only four congregations that have developed as a result of this in the last 30 years. So it's unlikely to have any significant impact here.

NPR: You don't think the announcement as public as it is, is really an open invitation to Anglicans to crossover?

KJS: I don't think it is directed at The Episcopal Church.

NPR: The last time we were together I asked you a question, what do you pray for? When you pray now, do you do so from a position of feeling that the challenges facing the church are greater or smaller than they were?

KJS: I see challenges as invitations to growth. Challenge means that we're taking notice of the fact that we have not yet arrived at the fullness of the kingdom of God and therefore we have work to do. In The Episcopal Church, that has to do with celebrating our reality as a multi-cultural church and discovering the reality that there are vast numbers of un-churched people around us, who are hungry for the hope that the Gospel offers. There are countless numbers of people around us who need the hope that this church presents through ministry, with those on the margins.

NPR: So you don't see schism as inevitable or even having started?

KJS: No, no absolutely not.

End

A New Episcopalian Looks Back

2009-12-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

Episcopal Life published my commentary. In it, I mention meeting KJS:

Almost two months after I was baptized, the Episcopal Church elected its first female presiding bishop. Since part of the appeal of the church for me was its inclusion of women in the priesthood and episcopate, I was absolutely thrilled at this news. Unbeknownst to me at that time, I would get to meet this presiding bishop almost three years later and tell her in person how joining this church was the best decision I ever made.

The full text is here:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_117301_ENG_HTM.htm

People wrote in reactions to my piece. One of the reactions was this:

Re: New Episcopalian looks back
From Carole Hannon • Anthem, Arizona, Nov 27, 2009: I haven't become an Episcopalian YET, but everything sure seems to fit with what I believe. I've had a very bumpy road trying to figure out where my ever-evolving understanding of me and where religious affiliation is taking me. Then I heard Katharine Jefferts Schori and have been totally enamored of her ever since. My reasoning went something like this; if the Episcopal Church is where she calls home, then I need to check it out too. I'll be attending my first service this Sunday. When I visited yesterday, I spoke to the church secretary. I asked about the Book of Common Prayer and she said I could take it home. I copied the Catechism and have questions and would love to talk more about things. Thank you.

Whether Bishop Katharine is aware of it or not, she is changing lives.

Advent Message

2009-12-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

Complete with church music in the background and birds flying behind her, KJS offers us a special message of hope and food for thought.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80056_ENG_HTM.htm

Straight Against Hate

2009-12-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

KJS speaks out against persecution of gays in Uganda and other places:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_117521_ENG_HTM.htm

Not Your Grandmother's Church

2009-11-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

This ad was run in California. More info is found on this blog http://blogs.deanbaker.org/?p=1887, there's an excellent slideshow plus a sermon audio of her recent visit to Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, California. Good stuff!

Could you please pass the salt?

2009-10-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sermon reflecting on the "salt of the earth" and what that means:

Where do we encounter the kind of salt that Jesus is talking about, that salt of welcome and friendship and life? Where do you know salt in your own life? Maybe it was the whiff of salt in the air along New York's East River Thursday morning, as the tide pushed in from the sea, but what I thought of first was the salt within us. The taste of salt in the tears my eyes were making in the cold wind, but also the taste of salt in blood and sweat. And the connection with the sea isn't trivial - sea water has a lot to do with the composition of the blood in our veins. The salt within us is indeed about life, for it reflects our evolutionary history, and our origins in a salty sea.
http://day1.org/1615-the_most_rev_katharine_jefferts_schori_being_salt_in_the_world

Icon

2009-10-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

A lovely icon of KJS can be seen at this church in Los Angeles:http://www.holynativityparish.org/abouthn.htm

2010 Unofficial KJS Calendar

2009-10-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

I made up a KJS 2010 calendar using some of the photos and quotes featured on this page. It a very simple layout: One pic and one quote a month, and the calendar is just the dates, just plain numbers (no holidays noted, etc). You can have one- just let me know I will email one to you. It is in a PDF format, and will be sent by Toobigforemail.com- a free program I use to send big files. This calandar is totally free, and not to be sold.

Forward Day by Day reading

2009-09-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY, September 20 16 Pentecost

Mark 9:30-37. Whoever welcomes one such child...welcomes me.
Several months ago I saw a wonderful picture of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, clad in a brightly colored chasuble and sitting on the floor in church, surrounded by children. Our presiding bishop travels extensively. She is so available that whenever she comes to a diocese, she tries to spend time with children and youth. When she comes to consecrate a new bishop, she asks to stay over Sunday and visit a small church. She strives to make the office of presiding bishop touch as many people as possible.
All too often when people are elected to high office, they lose touch with the "children"--both literal ones and figurative ones. How refreshing it is to see young children in the White House, and see our President and First Lady as mom and dad.
Jesus makes no bones about the fact that when we welcome children into our life, we welcome him. May we never be so busy that we lose touch with the children. For when we welcome them, we welcome Jesus.
PRAY for the Diocese of Southwark (Canterbury, England)
Ps 1 and Proverbs 31:10-31 –OR– Ps 54 and Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22 or Jeremiah 11:18-20; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

The Flying Bishop

2009-09-19T20:19:00.001-07:00

Had to post this cool pic of her checking out the plane!

A Picture and a Quote

2009-09-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Things that come in different sizes and colors and shapes and body forms are all part of that incredible diversity of creation that's present below the waters where we never even see them. And the Psalms tell us that God delights in that. That creation is in some sense God's way of-- loving the world.

Worth Repeating

2009-09-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

This an interview with Bill Moyers in 2007, as a new Presiding Bishop. She touches on science and religion, schism and homosexuality and scripture. It's lovely to listen to. A lovely montage of her installation, her posing with squid as a marine biologist, and then as a pilot of her plane, and footage of her testifying to Congress about global warming lead up to the interview.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06082007/watch2.html

“Look for the blessing in the person that drives you crazy.”: The 30 Day Experiment

2009-08-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

“Look for the blessing in the person that drives you crazy.”
This quote from ++KJS is something that really stuck with me. Perhaps the fact that she said it when she was visiting my diocese had something to do with it. Or not. Anyway, I decided to meditate on the quote every day for 30 days, and write down what happens each day when I apply the quote to daily events and people who I encounter. I'm on my 15th day now, and so far the experiences have been challenging and enriching, and also reflective. It is kind of amazing. The diary is written into a small booklet which I will transfer onto a blog when complete. It will be a separate blog than this one, as it will be too much about me, and I want this blog to remain a KJS blog purely. I look forward to sharing this with you.

Photos VI

2009-08-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bishop Katharine and the Native Americans

2009-08-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

A story has been submitted to me from a fellow KJS admirer. Thank you so much for this story!

"Our Supply Priest today told me the most amazing ++KJS story. Apparently when Bishop Katharine visited the tiny church located on a Native American community (St Anna's in Atmore, Alabama, in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast,), the women of the congregation persented her with a handmade Native America quilt. And according to the priest who witnessed this, '++Katharine was crying tears of gratitude and joy as the ladies wrapped her in the quilt!' The priest who supplied for my parish today had been the interim priest at the parish on the Native American reservation, so she got to spend a lot of time with our PB. This is a photo from that day- she is wrapped in the quilt."

Letter to the Church after the GC

2009-07-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112789_ENG_HTM.htm

"My sense is that we have been very clear that we value our relationships within and around the Communion, and seek to deepen them. My sense as well is that we cannot do that without being honest about who and where we are. We are obviously not of one mind, and likely will not be until Jesus returns in all his glory. We are called by God to continue to wrestle with the circumstances in which we live and move and have our being, and to do it as carefully and faithfully as we are able, in companionship with those who disagree vehemently and agree wholeheartedly. It is only in that wrestling that we, like Jacob, will begin to discern the leading of the Spirit and the blessing of relationship with God."

General Convention- closing comments

2009-07-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

It was great to follow the General Convention, and especially nice to see headlines like "Episcopalians make move to be more inclusive of gays" appear on CNN and MSNBC, etc. I wondered how the Episcopal Church could get out the news that it is an inclusive church, and you can't buy better advertising than that.

In her closing sermon, Presiding Bishop Katharine says:

"We've heard lots of words these last 11 days. We've used those words to make policy, to claim our missionary heartbeat, to bind ourselves in solidarity with the least, the lost and the left out. Some of us have even had to eat our words – unexpected things have happened, we've made mistakes, and we may even have misused our words. We have eaten Word, sacramental Word becoming flesh in us, that our words might come closer to that original Word."

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112704_ENG_HTM.htm

She also gave the attendees some "homework", or "marching orders", take your pick- on feeding the sheep:
"The food you have to offer has to be digestible and attractive – it needs to be good news, if you’re going to tend the sheep around you. Going home with a list of complaints, or full of anger about what you wanted that didn’t pass, is only going to generate indigestion. That is not an act of love. Sure, every flock finds a few noxious weeds in the pasture, but healthy sheep learn to how to avoid them. Tending the sheep means leading them to good pasture and caring that they might grow. What food will you take?"

May God bless Bishop Katharine and all of those who attended the Convention. Grant them all safe travel back home where hopefully they will start to make more shalom. +In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Lifting Women's Voices

2009-07-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=productDetail&productID=3532

This is a new book by Church Publishing which is a compilation of prayers written for and by Anglican women from all over the world. I had submitted a prayer when the editors were asking for contributions, and I am published in this book! It is such an honor to be in this wonderful book. It's special focus is on the Millennium Development Goals-which deal with women's empowerment, eliminating poverty and respecting the earth, and much more.

So what does this have to do with KJS? She wrote the forward to the book, and a beautiful forward at that. "We pray because we live in hope.", she says. It is so special to me that I am in the same book she is!

I'd like to share my prayer which is also in this book:

A Petition of Prayer for Women

For all women in our community, nation and world; we pray to you Lord God.

For all oppressed women; grant them strength to strive for equality, freedom and justice.

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

For all women suffering abuse; grant them full autonomy of body and mind.

Give every woman a healthy sense of self-worth and confidence that does not cease.

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Grant every woman infinite opportunity in religious and secular life.

Give them means to ascend to new heights and to break new ground.

Let their pathways be filled with peace and dignity.

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

We remember those women who came before us, and we prepare for those we have yet to know. Let our prayers be an inspiration to them, now and forever. AMEN.

General Convention II

2009-07-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

I Like This Quote!

"Episcopalians are like Boy Scouts – we like to be ready, with prayer book, hymnal, and bulletin in hand, and a Swiss army knife in our back pocket to open the wine bottle."

Sunday Eucharist sermon to United Thank Offering (UTO):

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112412_ENG_HTM.htm

General Convention, July 9, 2009: "Mission, mission, mission!"

2009-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

Opening Eucharist and Sermon:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112160_ENG_HTM.htm

"A new heart results in renewed creation – that reconciling mission we're so fond of talking about."

Interestingly, she also spoke of "new hearts" when I saw her preach in March. It was great to hear, and I am glad she is speaking of that again.

Fasten Your Seatbelts!

2009-07-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our KJS immortalized in a cartoon! This is July 2009 in a calendar by Church Publishing. The original is in color, with purple bishop's shirt, etc but the office doesn't have a color copier right now...so here's B&W version.

Prayers for this week's General Convention of the Episcopal Church

2009-07-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (from the Book of Common Prayer)

My own prayer:
Almighty God, please grant all who are attending the Convention the wisdom and strength to practice the Baptismal Covenant, especially in matters of respecting the dignity of every human being. Especially look upon our sister, Bishop Katharine. Let her be an effective and strong leader during any turmoil that may strike during this time. Grant her safe travel, make her an instrument of peace and reconciliation. +In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

More "Gospel"

2009-07-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

"Gospel in the Global Village..." book review on EpiscopalLife
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_111285_ENG_HTM.htm

Here's another quote from the book that I like, she said this in England, where women are still fighting to become ordained bishops.

"Courage come from a deep confidence in being beloved of God, in knowing that nothing can separate us from that love, including death, failure, social opprobrium, or the ecclesiastical equivalent of being labeled a feminist, a bitch, or even nastier things."

God Is My Pilot.........

2009-06-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this!

http://bumperstickers.cafepress.com/item/kjs-is-my-copilot-bumper-sticker/148364423

Article:‘Media Doesn’t Cover Good Things We Do’

2009-05-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Worth a mention:
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/5/1/west-texas

“The hot-button issues are a part of our mission, but only a part. Human sexuality is part of being a creature of God but it’s only a part. The media doesn’t want to cover the good things we do. Episcopal Relief and Development is working in 42 countries and touching 2.5 million lives every year. That does not make the news.”

“As Anglicans we are supposed to be able to live in tension......We’re not good at it. It’s a hard place to live, but it’s a life-giving place to live. Dealing with the conflict in the midst of it in a gracious way, I think, is the way to go through it.”