The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the 26th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, spoke at a public forum on Friday evening, May 16, at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky. More than 600 people filled the church's parish hall and two overflow areas to see her and take part in the "Conversation with the Presiding Bishop," the first in a series of stops Jefferts Schori made during the weekend visit. During the hour and twenty minute forum, she spoke briefly about the upcoming Lambeth Conference but spent the bulk of the time answering questions.

In introducing her to the audience, Bishop Ted Gulick noted that the presiding bishop has made many amazing firsts in addition to being the first woman presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the first woman primate in the Anglican Communion. She is, he said, the first presiding bishop "with a PhD in the hard sciences ... the first whose second vocation is the ordained ministry ... the first presiding bishop whose primary formation occurred west of the Rockies ... the first to have a pilot's license and the first to have a daughter who is an officer in the United States Air Force, stationed in the Middle East."

The forum was organized to encourage conversation between presiding bishop and Episcopalians from this diocese as well as their friends, family members and others who attended. Moderator Jackie Hays, and Episcopalian and news anchor for Wave 3 TV, presented the questions that had been submitted in advance by email as well as  during the forum. The questions addressed a variety of issues and topics, ranging from those dealing with the tensions within the church to  the Millennium Development Goals. 

At the start of the St. Matthew’s forum, the presiding bishop spoke briefly, at the request of Bishop Ted Gulick, about this summer’s Lambeth Conference, which at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury brings together every nine years the bishops who head episcopacies in the Anglican Communion.

“Communities of faith are places where we spend time and come to know each other intimately,” she said. Just as the forums offered a place for conversation between her and the people of diocese, she said that Lambeth Conferences are places for the leaders of Anglican provinces and their bishops to have “deep, leisurely” conversations that can lead to transformation.  The first Lambeth meeting, she said, provided an “opportunity for bishops throughout the British empire and its relics to begin to know each other in their particular contexts.” Their mornings are devoted to Bible study, and later in the day the  bishops “gather in groups to converse about some particular issues” as well as meet in large plenary sessions. However, legislation, which is “not a community-building exercise,” is not a part of their plan, she said. 

“I think we are very hopeful because more than 600 of more than 880 bishops of the Anglican Communion with full time episcopacies will be there,” she said. “Yes some primates [the leaders, like our presiding bishop, who head the communion’s 38 provinces], are not coming, but some bishops registered from those provinces. We may not all be there but there will be some representation from very province.”

With much care and thoughtfulness, the presiding bishop responded to about a dozen questions during the forum about her faith and approach to Christianity as well as about the tensions and lawsuits involving dioceses and congregations that have broken away from the Episcopal Church.

Asked to comment on the amount of in-fighting within the Church and Communion, the presiding bishop replied that fighting only takes place in an institution "centered in power. There is," she added, "no need to fight if we continue to ask ‘how can we serve the poor?'" Churches focused on "serving the least" among us thrive, she said.

Having just come from a conference on domestic poverty, Jefferts Schori reported that one major conclusion reached at the conference was that when Christians focus on the needs of others rather than the need to be "right" about questions of "sex," the Lord's work can be done and community can be built among those doing that work. She noted the example of people from conservative and progressive congregations who work together in New Orleans to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. "The growing parts [of the church] are focused on loving god and their neighbors. And when we do that, we can have different opinions about things and do the work that god sets before us."

Questioned about whether lawsuits are the way to resolve disputes between the Episcopal Church and dioceses and congregations that have broken away, she explained that "the role of the Episcopal Church as a denomination is to support dioceses in their mission. ... We will support the actions of local dioceses when they are faced a situation like this." While some people think we should not go to court, she said "there is often not a choice in the matter" and noted that the denomination has a "fiduciary and moral responsibility to see that the legacy of this church is used for the purpose for which it was given. She noted hopefully, however, that "we're finding that the bulk of this work is behind us. I think we're on the downhill side."

When asked about her priorities and what this will mean for individuals, she replied, "The highest priority of the Episcopal Church is to be transformed by sharing in the building of peace and justice. Leaders," she added, "can inspire and motivate, but it is the individual who has to do the work in the world."  (To see more photos, visit Donald Vish's photo album.)

The next day, the presiding bishop went to All Saints' Episcopal Conference Center, about 80 miles south of Louisville in Grayson County, where she presided over a service of baptisms and confirmations.  She then flew by private plane to Paducah, to preside over Evensong at Grace Episcopal Church in Paducah. Following the service, she participated in a second "conversation," attended by 300-400.  On Sunday, she presided over two services  in Louisville: the first at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, where she dedicated the cathedral's new altar, and another at Resurrection Church, where she was greeted the jubilant music of the church's Sudanese members and the Sudanese Youth Choir and sang (and later received) a hymn composed just for her by the church's music director, Tom Bailey. That afternoon the presiding bishop also visited with residents and retired clergy at a reception at the Episcopal Church Home.