Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori delivered a 24-minute briefing on Feb. 23, telling members of the staff at the Episcopal Church Center in New York City that The Episcopal Church will lose its prophetic voice within the councils of the Anglican Communion if it is unable to give the reassurances requested of it by the primates.

“The reality is that the entire communion is caught up in our controversy in one way or another,” Bishop Jefferts Schori said in a presentation that was recorded and made available by Episcopal News Service. “I believe it is The Episcopal Church’s charism or gift to the wider Communion and the world that this conversation that’s been going on here for at least 40 years won’t go away. God won’t let us let go of this. We would, I think most of us, like to have it finished and done with, but it doesn’t go away. God keeps bringing it back to us. It is a part of our mission as a Church.”

The primates’ terms for accepting assurances that The Episcopal Church wishes to remain as full members of the Anglican Communion is a bitter pill for many people, said Bishop Jefferts Schori.

“I ache for the pain that this communiqué is causing to people in our church who see issues of justice as absolutely central because I share that view,” she said. “I also hunger for a world where people of vastly different positions can sit at the same table and worship together at the same table, because I think eventually that’s how all of us are converted.

“People are converted by an incarnational encounter of something that has only been theory to them,” she said. “I think that’s another part of our gift. The fact that people from this church have missional relationships with other parts of the Communion is beginning to change people’s understanding. When they sit with a gay or lesbian Christian or with someone from this church who is able to speak about experience, they begin to ask questions and that conversation opens some possibility of conversion. That is a part of our gift.

“It's an enormous cost and price that’s being asked of us and I don’t know if we can or should pay that price,” Bishop Jefferts Schori continued. “What I want to encourage all of you and the people you talk to to think about is that this isn’t a decision that’s made today. It’s a decision that the House of Bishops will have to make in September, ultimately.”

Bishop Jefferts Schori said the House of Bishops will discuss the primates’ communiqué at their meeting next month at Camp Allen near Houston. The Executive Council will also discuss the communiqué when it meets March 2-4 in Portland, Ore. Bishop Jefferts Schori told the Church Center staff that plans are being made to have discussion of these issues in each diocese over the summer in the hope that when the House of Bishops meets for a final decision in September, each bishop will have a clear understanding of local opinion on what is being asked of The Episcopal Church.

In a related development, Bishop Jefferts Schori has scheduled a Feb. 28 webcast on listening, Lent and the primates’ meeting. Participants will be able to telephone or email questions during the 45-minute long program, which will begin at 10 a.m. eastern time.

For more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine. Call 1-800-211-2771 today to start your subscription.