Rachel Zoll interviewed Katherine Jefferts Schori on the eve of the Lambeth Conference of bishops of the Anglican Communion. The Presiding Bishop stayed on message.
The Episcopal Church: ”We’re far more diverse than we’re presented in some quarters,” she said in a recent interview with The Associated Press at Episcopal headquarters in New York. ”We have people all over the theological spectrum and liturgical spectrum.”
On property disputes: ”We really don’t have the authority or the moral right to give away those gifts that have been given by generations past and for the benefit of generations now and the benefit of generations to come.”
On boundary crossing: ”It’s totally opposed to a traditional Christian understanding of how bishops relate to each other,” she said. ”That’s the biggest difficulty. They’re setting up as something else in the same geographical territory.”
On interpreting the Bible: ”Some people think that you can read the Bible without understanding the original context and simply take literally what you read. We will interpret — and it’s an important part of faithful living,” Jefferts Schori said. ”To assume there is only one way of reading is hubris.”
Zoll writes, “The communion, a group of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, has a long tradition of accommodating different views, but it’s unclear whether that broad practice will continue.”