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Presiding Bishop sees Western Kansas in quick tour

By Melodie Woerman
Editor, The Harvest

	Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (left) learns about receovery efforts in Greensburg, Kan., after the May 4 tornado that destroyed the town. She was in the Diocese of Western kansas for a visit June 17-20. With her is Sherry Denton of Salina. Photo by Melodie Woerman

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori spent a busy few days in the Diocese of Western Kansas June 17-20 with stops at 14 churches. The trip was her first to the state since being elected to lead The Episcopal Church in June 2006.

She spoke to large gatherings in Salina, Hays, Dodge City and Hutchinson and visited with smaller groups of parishioners at other stops.

She received a variety of gifts, like a Honduran mission T-shirt from the youth group at Grace, Hutchinson, and a handmade afghan bearing the Episcopal shield at All Saints, Pratt. She even was named an honorary marshal of Dodge City.

She also made a brief stop in Greensburg, site of a tornado that leveled the town of 1,300 on May 4. After surveying recovery efforts that still include debris removal, she called it a tragedy, with “utter devastation in such a confined area” that was reminiscent of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

‘She gets us’
Karen Kline-Martin is a member of St. Mark’s, Lyons, who saw Bishop Jefferts Schori at her home parish and traveled to hear her in Hays and Hutchinson. She said she was thrilled by the chance to meet her. “St. Mark’s is a really small church,” she said. “Nationally, we may not seem like a lot, but having her here means a lot.”

Terry Bolte of Holy Apostles Church in Ellsworth said the fact the presiding bishop came from a rural diocese like Nevada helped her connect with the needs of Western Kansas. The Rev. Eileen Heden, who serves churches in Ellsworth and Great Bend, agreed. “I think she gets us,” she said.

At each major stop, Bishop Jefferts Schori spoke about the need for people to stay in conversation with each other in spite of differences. “I think God is calling us to a place where we can have a conversation and we don’t have to agree,” she told an audience of more than 200 people in Hutchinson. “I think at its best, that is the kind of role the Episcopal Church can play, not just internally but with the rest of the community around us.”

Anglican ties remain strong
She also addressed the current conflicts within the Anglican Communion over homosexuality. She said the Episcopal Church’s action in electing and consenting to the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, a gay man living in a partnered relationship, had offended the cultural taboos against discussing sex in some parts of the Communion. “Yes, we are having arguments at the level up here, in the primate sphere, about issues of governance and issues of authority.”

However, she said, “The Anglican Communion is alive and well at the level of partnerships, parish to parish, diocese to diocese.” That commitment to work together to feed the hungry, heal the sick and address other human needs will continue, she said. “That’s what we’re focusing on, and I think the rest will work itself out.”

At the primates’ meeting in Tanzania in February, she said there were some who were working to have the Episcopal Church punished, some who agreed with the actions of General Convention and “a vast group in the middle who were saying, ‘I can’t believe we’ve spent almost the whole meeting talking about these issues when people are dying of hunger and disease.’”

Why the church exists
She said the most pressing issue facing the church today is “mission, mission, mission. It’s about spreading the good news in word and deed. That’s why we’re here. That’s why the church exists.”

To do it, the Episcopal Church has to reach out to those outside church walls to address “the gospel hungers of new generations, new populations, people who do not know any version of the good news,” the presiding bishop said. “It’s about addressing the spiritual hunger of the vast number of Americans who don’t have a faith community.

“There are plenty of unchurched folk out there. It’s a matter of going out and listening. I think that’s the root of evangelism, not going out and telling,” she said.

Bishop Jefferts Schori said in her first year as presiding bishop, she has been most surprised by all the media interest in her as the first woman to head the Episcopal Church. “It’s a learning experience and also a great gift and a great evangelism tool,” she told the gathering in Hays.

Her greatest joy is the chance to see the church in action. She said she loves seeing what she called “the church on the ground,” as she travels across the country. “It’s different in different places,” she said, “but in all the places I’ve been, it’s healthy.”

Information from the Dodge CityDaily Globe and the Hays Daily News contributed to this report.