Katharine Jefferts Schori
Hearing the call
I didn't expect to hear seagulls in Canterbury, but they were a frequent and insistent background as we listened, conversed, prayed and sang together through the nearly three weeks of the Lambeth Conference. For me, those seagulls were a recurring reminder of the presence of the Spirit. Our time together began in retreat at Canterbury […]
Presiding Bishop’s statement at the conclusion of the 2008 Lambeth Conference
Many bishops came to this gathering in fear and trembling, expecting either a distasteful encounter between those of vastly different opinions, or the cold shoulder from those who disagree. The overwhelming reality has been just the opposite. We have prayed, cried, learned, and laughed together, and discovered something deeper about the body of Christ. We […]
Presiding Bishop’s Sermon at St. Martin in the Field
It has been a joy to be in this country for the last two and a half weeks. Two weeks ago I was in Salisbury, where we celebrated the 750th anniversary of their new cathedral. Part of that celebration involved a pilgrimage “a couple of miles’ walk from the ruins of the old cathedral, excavated only in […]
BBC Radio 4, Morning Worship Service
Jacob’s a remarkable fellow if he can go to sleep with a rock for a pillow. He sleeps amazingly well for someone who’s just defrauded his brother. His dream in the middle of the night gives no hint of the wrong he’s done ” he gets assurance of the fullness of God’s favor “and that […]
BBC Radio 3, Evensong at Salisbury Cathedral
Jesus came to Sychar, near Jacob’s well. Today that piece of territory is on the outskirts of Nablus, in the Palestinian West Bank. It was Samaritan territory in Jesus’ time, and had been “unclean territory” since the time of the Exile. The people who remained there after Babylon’s destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem had […]
Morning Eucharist at Salisbury Cathedral
I bring you greetings from Taiwan, Micronesia, Guam, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands including the British Virgin Islands as well as the US, a convocation of churches in Europe, and the churches in the United States, all of the Episcopal Church. They hold you in their prayers and ask your prayers for […]
Sermon at the Closing Eucharist of Transfiguring Episcope
Stir up your might, O Lord, and come to save us. Restore us, let your face shine, that we may be saved. I imagine that prayer has been said many times by those in this room. And perhaps even more often the prayer, “how long, O Lord, how long?” Well, stir up your courage, my […]
Opening Eucharist, Episcopal Youth Event
The growing seed destroys its husk: the only home it has ever known The Greek tourists come and say, “we wanna see Jesus.” And after the disciples play telephone for a while, how does he respond? “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if […]
Episcopal Youth Event Opening, Sown in the Heart of Christ
Have you ever planted a garden or done some farming? Do you remember a Sunday school project where you planted some seeds in a Dixie cup? Did all of the little plants come up looking identical? The seeds we plant don’t always come up the way we expect. Sometimes the batch of flowers that come […]
Praying in word and deed
As I write, the GAFCON meeting has just ended and many inner workings of the Anglican Communion are looking toward the Lambeth Conference due to begin in two weeks. I have recently returned to the office from visits to the Niobrara Convocation in South Dakota, the Diocese of Maryland, and Nuevo Amanacer (a gathering of […]