Katharine Jefferts Schori

From dKosopedia

Categories: Religious figures | Episcopalians

Katharine Jefferts Schori is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. She was elected on June 18, 2006, for a nine year term which begins on November 1st. Her predecessor was Frank Tracy Griswold III. She is the first woman elected as a Presiding Bishop on any of the Anglican churches; in fact, the only other churches with female bishops are Canada and New Zealand. In 2003, she voted in favor of ordaining Gene Robinson as the first gay bishop, and she supports the blessing of same-sex unions in her current diocese of Nevada.

She was ordained deacon and priest in 1994, and was elected as Bishop of Nevada in 2001. Before entering the ministry, she worked as an airline pilot and oceanographer. She received a B.S. in biology from Stanford University, 1974; an M.S. in Oceanography from Oregon State University, 1977; a Ph.D. from Oregon State University, 1983; an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 1994; and a D.D. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2001.

Jefferts Schori was born March 26, 1954, in Pensacola, Florida. She has been married to Richard Miles Schori, a retired theoretical mathematician (topologist), since 1979. They have one child, Katharine Johanna, 24, who is a second lieutenant and pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

External Links

• Episcopal Church elects first woman Presiding Bishop - Official announcement.