Katherine Jefferts Schori, the newly elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, has made it clear that things will change in the church under her tenure. And in many issues, she has set herself and the Episcopalians on a collision course with the Anglican Communion. In fact, some think that she may be provoking a schism to form an independent liberal denomination. Jordan Hylden, a junior fellow at First Things, writes:
With great frequency and clarity, she [Schori] has committed herself to the full affirmation of homosexual practice, including ordination to the episcopate and same-sex marriage. This, she has stated, is the “reasonable conclusion and consensus” of the Episcopal Church, regardless of the contrary decisions of the Anglican Communion as a whole and the continued objection of a sizeable minority within ECUSA. In fact, she has said that their continued objection is “schismatic,” distracts from the real mission of the church (i.e., social justice), and will no longer be tolerated.
The problem is that she is on a direct collision course with the rest of the Anglican Communion. And, while she will not admit it in so many words, it has become increasingly clear that Bishop Schori and her supporters know perfectly well that their actions will end in a final break with Canterbury and the Global South. The church’s Executive Council has already proposed the formation of an “Anglican Convocation of the Americas,” comprising liberal churches such as ECUSA, Canada, and Brazil. Even the Episcopal Church’s name no longer officially includes reference to the United States, which Bishop Schori has stated reflects the “transnational” character (better put, “ambition”) of the church. Liberal voices from England and elsewhere have signaled their desire to join such a convocation, which almost certainly will set itself up as a “progressive” alternative to mainstream Anglicanism.
Given the nature of changes in the Episcopal Church and horror of the more orthodox in the Anglican Communion, expect the schism under the reign of Schori. As I pointed out, the first schism leads to countless others.
