But rather than comment further on these issues, we will recall some of her most famous (and infamous) public statements. Here they are,<\/p>\n
Top Schori statements<\/p>\n
1. On the shrinking of the church, and how it reflects better education and stewardship:<\/p>\n
Q: How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country? 2. On that evil apostle Paul, \u201cdepriving\u201d a slave girl of her demon, er \u201cgift\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cPaul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God. She is quite right. She\u2019s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves. But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness. Paul can\u2019t abide something he won\u2019t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it. It gets him thrown in prison. That\u2019s pretty much where he\u2019s put himself by his own refusal to recognize that she, too, shares in God\u2019s nature, just as much as he does, maybe more so!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Sermon preached in Curacao, May 2013: Episcopal Digital Network<\/a><\/p>\n 3. On how how if it\u2019s found in nature than it\u2019s A-okay:<\/p>\n Well if one looks at the rest of creation, there are lots and lots of instances of same-sex behaviour in other species. They\u2019re generally a small percentage of the whole, but they\u2019re clearly evident. If they exist, an evolutionary theorist would say they have some kind of evolutionary benefit, or they don\u2019t have a massive evolutionary detriment, and if we can affirm that creation is good, as Genesis would say, then I think we have to take those instances quite seriously.<\/em><\/p>\n Interview in 2006 with Stephen Crittenden: http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/radionational\/programs\/religionreport\/katharine-jefferts-schori\/3323620#?utm_source=StandFirm&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=link<\/a><\/p>\n 4. On how \u201cReason\u201d trumps Bible in religious debates:<\/p>\n As Anglicans, we have always asserted that we listen to three primary sources of authority to scripture, to tradition, and to reason. The debate which has risen to the level of the Anglican primates has its roots in putting different emphasis on those three sources of authority. The Episcopal Church\u2019s General Convention acted last summer out of a sense that reason and a broad reading of the Great Commandment required a different conclusion about matters of homosexuality than did strict adherence to seven passages in scripture which seem to speak against it. The other wing of the church says that those seven passages have ultimate authority, and therefore \u201cwe will obey the Bible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Article: http:\/\/www.nvdiocese.org\/?utm_source=StandFirm&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=link<\/a><\/p>\n 5. On how Mormons are Christians too:<\/p>\n Every religious tradition has its skeletons and its saints, and sometimes they are the same people. Paul is warning his hearers not to count themselves better than their ancestors, for they all depend on the same rootstock \u2013 a root that nourishes the olive tree or the grape vine we cling to as intimate connection to God as Creator of all. That root is why we are here, and it is also why the LDS church is here.<\/em> Source: Stand Firm blog: http:\/\/www.standfirminfaith.com\/?\/sf\/page\/31775<\/a><\/p>\n 6. On the \u201cresurrected Christ\u201d, where the body of Jesus apparently remained a corpse, but his ideas live on in his followers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does that resurrection reality mean for the Body of Christ of which we are part? How does the risen Body of Christ \u2013 what we often call the church \u2013 differ from the crucified one?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Sermon, Easter 2014: http:\/\/episcopaldigitalnetwork.com\/ens\/2014\/04\/07\/presiding-bishops-easter-message-2014\/?utm_source=StandFirm&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=link<\/a><\/p>\n 7. On how the Bible used to \u201csanction\u201d polygamy and we must redefine marriage:<\/p>\n \u201cThe theology of marriage has evolved over time, with biblical examples including polygamy, concubinage, and other forms of relationship no longer sanctioned in The Episcopal Church,\u201d <\/em>noted Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori. \u201cWe no longer expect that one partner promise to obey the other, that parents give away their children to be married, or that childbearing is the chief purpose of marriage. This task force is charged not only to take the pulse of our current theological understanding of the meaning of marriage, but to assist the faithful in conversation and discernment about marriage, in particular what the Church might hold up as \u201choly example\u201d of the love between Christ and his Church.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 2013 Episcopal Church Website: http:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/notice\/presiding-bishop-president-house-deputies-announce-12-member-task-force-study-marriage<\/a><\/p>\n 8. On \u201cMother Jesus\u201d<\/p>\n Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation \u2014 and you and I are his children.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nA: \u201cAbout 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children.\u201d<\/em>
\nQ: Episcopalians aren\u2019t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?
\nA: \u201cNo. It\u2019s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.\u201d<\/em>
\n2006 New York Times Magazine Interview: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/11\/19\/magazine\/19WWLN_Q4.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\n When General Convention shows up here just over 3 months from now, many of the volunteers and dispensers of hospitality will be our sisters and brothers from that tradition. Will we recognize their welcome as a product of the same root, or will we assume that they come from a different and unrecognizable species?<\/em><\/p>\n