Gay issue can wait, Episcopal bishop asserts

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703010181mar01,1,1200280.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[Chicago Tribune] 1 Mar 2007--The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said Wednesday that it is being pushed toward painful decisions on questions of sexuality and scriptural interpretation by "impatient forces" eager for clarity, but urged members to wait without fear as the church struggles through a difficult time.

Appearing in a live Webcast, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori acknowledged that the church, the American wing of the global Anglican Communion, risks losing its place and voice in that fellowship if it does not comply with demands from Anglican leaders that it bar official blessings for same-sex couples and take other actions.

Jefferts Schori said, however, that she believed the church was being asked to pause, not retreat. "If we can lower the emotional reactivity in the midst of this current controversy, we just might be able to find a way to live together," she said.

I don't know what led her to the conclusion that the orthodox Primates are calling The Episcopal Church to "pause," and not "repent". Such conclusions will not help heal the growing rift between The Episcopal Church and the orthodox Provinces of the Anglican Communion.