Tenure As Presiding Bishop
Jefferts Schori's tenure has been highly controversial and marked by nearly unprecedented schism, with four dioceses having broken off to become part of the Anglican Church in North America and a fifth having split over the prosecution of their bishop (Mark Lawrence of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina) At her direction the national church has initiated lawsuits against departing dioceses and parishes, with some $22 million spent thus far. She also established a policy that church properties were not to be sold to departing congregations.
Jefferts Schori is a supporter of same-sex relationships and of the blessing of same-sex unions and civil gay marriage. Like her predecessor, she is a supporter of abortion rights, stating that "We say it is a moral tragedy but that it should not be the government's role to deny its availability." She also supported the HHS mandate on birth control.
Some within the church have questioned the orthodoxy of her theology. For example, her statement that "“the great Western heresy – is that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God" in her opening address to the 2009 General Convention was widely criticized and prompted a clarifying statement from her in the following week.
Read more about this topic: Katharine Jefferts Schori
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