| 10/15/2008
| The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori told a Columbus Dispatch newspaper reporter that 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.
Ironically, this is the first time Mrs. Jefferts Schori has ever admitted that there is a crisis in the church, having told the church and press on numerous occasions that only a handful of people have left the church, and that the vast majority of people will stay.
In Virginia Beach in 2007, she said in an interview that congregations had "gotten a lot of attention and been very noisy," but accounted for less than 1 percent of the country's total number of parishes, which she put at 7,500.
"The Episcopal Church is alive and well," she later told a group of Episcopal Communicators.
If that is the case, why is she now talking about a "crisis?" Is she finally admitting that the recent defections indicate a much bigger problem than she ever anticipated?
|