04-19-2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Cedar Rapids]
Contact: Kate Rose

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori to Visit Cedar Rapids

Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, will be in Cedar Rapids Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6. Both appearances will be at Christ Episcopal Church, 220 40^th Street NE, and are free and open to the public.

May 5 Jefferts Schori hosts a question and answer period at 7:30 p.m. May 6 she will be celebrant and preacher at an 8:30 a.m. service which marks the 10^th anniversary of Christ Church.

One of the emphases of Jefferts Schori’s ministry is the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Speaking at a conference in South Africa, she said, “We are talking about the MDGs because we affirm that we are involved with the lives of others, whether they live next door or across the world, whether they are Christian or Anglican or not, and even whether they are currently living or not. When we say we believe in the communion of the saints, it certainly includes those who have come before us, but it also at some level must include those yet to breathe this air of earth. We are caretakers and caregivers of all of God’s creation, both present and yet to come, ad that is an important Christian recognition of the eschatological implications of the MDGs.”

Katharine Jefferts Schori, who took office November 1, 2006, is 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Jefferts Schori was elected to this office on June 18, 2006 by vote of the 75th General Convention, in Columbus, Ohio.  This Convention also set the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as the Episcopal Church’s top mission priority.  In her full endorsement of these goals, Bishop Jefferts Schori calls upon Episcopalians and the wider global community to work together for their implementation.  

Bishop Jefferts Schori’s career as an oceanographer preceded her studies for the priesthood, to which she was ordained in 1994. She remains an active, instrument-rated pilot – a skill she applied when traveling between the congregations of the Diocese of Nevada, where she was elected bishop in 2000 and ordained to the episcopate February 24, 2001. At the time of her election as bishop of Nevada, she was assistant rector of the Church of the Good Samaritan in Corvallis, Oregon.

Bishop Jefferts Schori, 52, holds a B.S. degree in biology from Stanford University (1974), an M.S. (1977) and Ph.D. (1983) in oceanography from Oregon State University, an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific (1994), and an honorary D.D. (2001) also from CDSP.

Bishop Jefferts Schori brings to her ministry emphases on baptismal ministry and adult education. As Presiding Bishop, she will serve as chief pastor to the Episcopal Church’s 2.4 million members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses. As Primate, Bishop Jefferts Schori will join in consultation with other principal bishops of the 38 member Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion, seeking to make common cause for global good and reconciliation.

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