PB: Set aside 'fear and anxiety,'

From The Sacramento Bee via TitusOneNine:

By Jennifer Garza
jgarza@sacbee.com

Published: Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 - 6:31 am

Hundreds of worshippers packed into Sacramento’s Trinity Cathedral on Sunday morning to hear the nation’s leader of the Episcopal Church talk about the need to embrace change.

“Changing isn’t the problem,” said Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in her message. “Our fear and anxiety about it is.”

Jefferts Schori spoke to a supportive and welcoming crowd. After all, she interned at the midtown cathedral 16 years ago. Sunday she returned to deliver a message of hope and change for the Episcopal Church that has been marked by controversy in recent years.

Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church for three years, has been at the center of that turmoil.

Many worldwide Anglican leaders – the Episcopal Church is the American branch of the union – have condemned U.S. church leaders for ordaining the first openly gay bishop and welcoming gay clergy. Some conservative U.S. bishops and their parishes broke away from the church over this issue. Membership in all but four U.S. Episcopal dioceses fell last year, according to Jefferts Schori.

“Decisions made here sometimes irritate other people,” said Jefferts Schori. “We also embarrass other parts of the Communion when we talk about sexuality.”

The Episcopal Church in America has about 2.3 million members in the United States and is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California has 70 congregations with 14,000 members, according to the diocesan Web site.

Jefferts Schori, 55, spoke as Northern Californian Episcopalians ended their convention. She spoke in a relaxed but friendly style from prepared notes.

During her sermon, the bishop talked about the importance of change, a theme she carried into a question-and- answer forum with churchgoers later.

Worshippers, who came from throughout the Sacramento area, asked about same-sex liturgies, health care reform, growth in the church, and the need to heal racial divisions.

Ruth Lindgren asked about the recent Vatican announcement inviting Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church. Many leaned forward in their pews to hear the bishop’s response.

Jefferts Schori smiled and nodded and said the policy was not new. A similar one had been in effect for 30 years, she said. Then she quoted another bishop.

“The road between Canterbury and Rome is well- traveled,” said Jefferts Schori.

Jefferts Schori had been a Catholic when she was a child and had attended Catholic school. Later, she was drawn to the Episcopal church for its community. She earned a doctorate in oceanography. Then she heard the call to the priesthood. She was elected bishop of Nevada and in 2006 became the first woman to lead the national church.

“I’m still fishing,” she said during the forum.

Afterward, she greeted congregants and posed for photographs.

Members were impressed. “I was heartened by what she said about the importance of inclusivity,” said Leslie Hacia, a member since 1991.

Lindgren was satisfied with how Jefferts Schori answered the question about the Vatican. “I think her answer was perfect.”