Episcopal leader visits Salem Avenue church
Monday, April 30, 2007
You couldn't tell by the informal dress of the visitors to Dayton's St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Sunday that something of historical importance was taking place.
Visiting St. Andrew's a day after consecrating the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio was Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA.
At the Episcopal Church's General Convention in Columbus last year, the House of Bishops lifted a moratorium on the consecration of new bishops. The moratorium was in response to a split within the Anglican Communion over the ordination of gay priests.
It also broke with tradition by electing a woman, Jefferts Schori, to the position of presiding bishop.
Sunday, she led the 10:30 a.m. service at "the little church on the hill with the red door" at 1060 Salem Ave.
During a spirited 20-minute sermon, the licensed pilot spoke of shepherdship and compared it to flying a plane.
"A pilot is a risk-taker," she said. "And shepherds also have to live on the edge. We have to be shepherds in everyday life. Where and how were you meant to be a shepherd?"



The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, Katharine Jefferts Schori, addresses St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Sunday during her visit to Dayton.