Keeping cool

A brief profile of Katharine Jefferts Schori describes how she keeps her cool in a very stressful job.

Daniel Burke of Religious News Service says even those who disagree with her notice how focused and unflappable she can be.

“She’s centered and intense,” said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a well-regarded conservative theologian from South Carolina. “You get a sense when she answers a question that she’s trying to channel all her passion in one place.”

About a year after her installation as Presiding Bishop, Jefferts Schori describes the “steep learning curve” that came with this new ministry.

“It’s been a year of a steep learning curve,” she said in an interview Wednesday (Jan. 16). “But it’s been a delightful privilege to travel around and see the ways in which the church is fully engaged in its mission.”

Part of that mission, Jefferts Schori said, is demonstrating how a diverse community can “value the person and positions of others who disagree with us.”

Her historic election in 2006, when she became the first woman to lead a national province of the worldwide Anglican Communion since the Church of England was founded in the mid-1500s, immediately riled traditionalist parts of the church, even as women rejoiced.

Inevitably, any discussion of this first year in office must turn to the dissent and departure of parishes opposed to either women clergy or the ordination of homosexuals or both. Recent disciplinary actions against Bishops who have taken their dioceses the Episcopal Church or are preparing to have highlighted how sharp the situation is.

“She has the hardest job in the world,” said Diana Butler Bass, an Episcopalian and author of “Christianity for the Rest of Us,” who had high praise for Jefferts Schori’s leadership. “What a terrible time to come into a job.”

It would be easier to let U.S. conservatives secede to join another Anglican province without a fight, said Jefferts Schori, “but I don’t think that’s a faithful thing to do.”

Episcopal leaders are stewards of church property and assets, protecting past generations’ legacies and passing them on to future Episcopalians, according to the presiding bishop. Allowing congregations to walk away with church property condones “bad behavior,” she said.

“In a sense it’s related to the old ecclesiastical behavior toward child abuse,” when priests essentially looked the other way, she said.

“Bad behavior must be confronted.”

The column also quotes others who believe her style to be too heavy-handed such as the Rev. Neal Michell, canon for strategic development in the Diocese of Dallas.

Read: Beliefnet.com: Episcopal Bishop Keeps Her Cool in the Hot Seat

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