Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori visited the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh:
Episcopal bishop juggles rift, ministry
In the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (PA)
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori came to Pittsburgh to talk about the love of Jesus, but knew she would face questions about property litigation and rifts in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The primate of the 2 million-member Episcopal Church made her first official visit as a guest of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is less than half the size it was before a 2008 split. On Tuesday in Wilkinsburg she witnessed the annual Holy Week renewal of vows by three dozen clergy, calling them to reach out to those who suffer.
She reiterated the value of reaching out to each other during a forum Tuesday evening in Trinity Cathedral, Downtown.
“We have need of everyone,” she said. “We will continue to be in relationships with everyone who wants to be in relationships with us.”
Despite turmoil, Episcopal presiding bishop believes Anglican Communion is stronger than ever
In the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
In her sermon, the presiding bishop recounted the night she had accidentally wandered into an immense crowd of tourists who were trying to see the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York last year. She compared it to the crowds that sought to see Jesus on his entrance into Jerusalem, and spoke of the many people who are desperate to see Jesus.
Bishop Jefferts Schori, 57, is married with a daughter in the Air Force, and one of her stories about people desperate to see Jesus concerned a parish filled with military families. Some were facing imminent deployment. Others were in desperate financial straights. Several young men bore very visible war wounds on their faces.
In that church, “I think I saw Jesus showing his wounds. . . I saw many reaching out to touch him and others still looking,” she said.
“The world is hungry for the light of Christ and aching to see the love of Christ in human flesh. . . . The anger of the society around us is a sign of that hunger, even when it is hidden and expressed in less than fully honest ways. . . .It can be painful and difficult work on the road to Calvary and carrying bodies to the tomb. But it is the way of Resurrection.”
Episcopal bishop foresees shift for church buildings
In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Episcopal Church will remain a work in progress as it rebuilds from a 2008 schism and seeks to attract members, its leader said on Tuesday.
“We’re a community that is on the road together, wrestling with what it means to be a Christian in this particular age,” Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said before a morning service at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkinsburg. “In order to communicate that message, we have to go out into the community.”
…
“More faith communities will decide not to have a permanent dedicated structure in the coming years,” she said. “They can be a blessing if they are used all the time, but many of them are only used on Sunday mornings. Is that an effective use of the resource?”
From the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate
WPXI-PIT (NBC) – Pittsburgh , PA
PB
From the Pittsburgh Fox TV News Station
WPGH-PIT (FOX) – Pittsburgh , PA