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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Presiding Bishop Visits Charlottesville

Last week Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori visited Charlottesville and was kind enough to meet our Canterbury students during her time here.

In preparation for her visit, our group met Wednesday evening at our usual Canter-time to discuss the office of the Presiding Bishop.  Matthew Lukens led the discussion and provided us with a bunch of interesting information about her.

For those who may not know, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States has a surprisingly well structured government.  On the parish level, each church has a rector.  Parishes comprise Dioceses, which are overseen by Bishops and either Assistant or Suffragan Bishops.  The different between Assistant and Suffragan Bishops is that Assistant Bishops have the option of becoming the Bishop should the current Bishop retire, move to another diocese, or pass away.  Suffragans can only move away to another Diocese to either be Suffragan there or to become a Bishop.  The next level up is the national church, which is presided over by - well - the Presiding Bishop.  This persons job is essentially to lead the Episcopal Church USA in doctrinal matters and work with the Bishops of other countries to maintain relations within the Anglican Communion.  The Anglican Communion is a collection of (for lack of a better word) Archdioceses around the world; for example there is the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Church of New Zealand, etc.  At last count, there were approximately 77 million communicants who identified themselves as belong to the Anglican Communion.

In the States, the Presiding Bishop is elected at General Convention by the House of Bishops and the ratified by the House of Deputies (which are Lay representatives sent by Dioceses to General Convention).  Given the rather progressive nature of the Episcopal Church USA, our Presiding Bishop has an interesting and somewhat complicated job.  She acts as our representative whenever the Primates (or Archbishops of the other Anglican countries) meet at Lambeth Palace to discuss current ecumenical issues and the future of the Anglican Communion.

All that being said, Katharine Jefferts-Schori is the first female Presiding Bishop in history.  She had a busy weekend here in Charlottesville, as she gave a talk Friday at the Rotunda, was the guest of a banquet Saturday, and preached at the 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock services this past Sunday.

Canterbury had a good time meeting with her at the Colonnade Club on Friday and were then able to escort her over to the Rotunda for her speech.

Hopefully there will be pictures coming soon.  But for now, visit rector Jim Richardson's Blog .