The disagreement is about "fine details of theology," says the Presiding Bishop. Really. Fine details. If pecusa doesn't remove this person for incompetency, how about for the embarrassment that her theological and administrative shortcomings have cost pecusa as well as the millions of dollars in lawsuits. Question: if pecusa continues to lose 50,000 members a year, how can the worst be over as the PB states? Over the last five years pecusa has gone from 2.4 to 2.3 to 2.2 million members according to the article below. Is the worst really over? One diocese left last year, one so far has left this year and more may leave before the year is over. One, two or more dioceses may leave next year. Is the worst really over? ed.
Some dioceses leave, but worst over, she says
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 8:31 PM
By Meredith Heagney
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Days after the Pittsburgh Diocese voted to leave the Episcopal Church over its teachings on homosexuality and salvation, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said she thinks the worst of the crisis in the denomination is over.
She also predicted that openly gay bishops will be elected in the future, despite an agreement among bishops not to consent to such elections for the time being.
Jefferts Schori, the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Church, was in Columbus today to preach at Trinity Episcopal Church Downtown, where she was elected bishop in 2006.
She spoke to The Dispatch after receiving an honorary doctorate in divinity from Bexley Hall Seminary, which shares a campus with Trinity Lutheran Seminary.
Jefferts Schori spoke of her grief about the Pittsburgh Diocese's decision to leave because of disagreements with the church over biblical teachings about homosexuality and salvation.
"That's just profoundly sad," she said. "Arguing about fine details of theology isn't the main reason for our existence." The focus instead should be on service and evangelism, she said.
The 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The relationship between the two has been threatened since 2003, when an openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, was elected in New Hampshire.
The Pittsburgh Diocese was the second in the United States to leave the church, after the Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, Calif. Next month, dioceses in Fort Worth, Texas, and Quincy, Ill., are to vote on leaving the Episcopal Church. Individual churches, including several in Ohio, have also decided to break from the denomination.
No other dioceses have expressed a desire to leave, Jefferts Schori said. "I think we're well past the worst of the crisis," she said.
The reorganization of the Pittsburgh Diocese has begun, led by diocesan officials who chose to remain with the Episcopal Church, Jefferts Schori said. The breakaway congregations still occupy church property, and the denomination will reclaim it through the courts if necessary.
"Our job isn't to be vindictive about their departure but to say, 'We bless your journey, we wish you all the best. And if you want to come back, the door's open and we'll keep the porch light on.' "
As presiding bishop, her task is to refocus Episcopalians on the mission of the church, she said.
Part of that mission is to fight oppression in all its forms, starting with racism. On Saturday in Philadelphia, Jefferts Schori apologized for the Episcopal Church's role in perpetuating and profiting from slavery.
There is a parallel between the historic oppression of black people and the challenges that gays and lesbians face, she said.
"It's an age-old human struggle over who's an accepted member of the community," she said.
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