Presiding bishop commences visit to Australia, New Zealand
Episcopal News Service. June 24, 2010 [062410-01]
Matthew Davies
The Anglican churches in Australia and New Zealand are hosting Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for an informal two-week visit to the two provinces.
"I'm to speak with people there about their conversations around human sexuality and also about their missionary development work -- not in the sense of finances but in the sense of leadership development and theological education," Jefferts Schori told members of Executive Council during their June 16-18 meeting in Maryland. "We're also going to have a conversation about the work that they're doing around the Millennium Development Goals, and, obviously, our relationships within the Anglican Communion."
Neva Rae Fox, the Episcopal Church's program officer for public affairs, said the trip, which has been in the planning stages for more than a year, is all about building relationships.
Archbishop David Moxon of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is quoted by Anglican Taonga news service as saying that "reciprocal visits between provinces are a normal part of our Anglican way of life, and we want to extend the appropriate hospitality to the presiding bishop."
Moxon, bishop of Waikato and one of three co-presiding bishop's of the New Zealand province, said, "There's no set agenda for this visit, no conferences or summits -- we'll simply be having informal conversations about our respective missions. Her visit is also an opportunity for this church to describe our approach to the questions on sexuality before the Anglican Communion."
The presiding bishop is scheduled to preach on June 27 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland and during Evensong the same day at St. Michael and All Angels in Christchurch.
According to Anglican Taonga, the presiding bishop will participate in two informal gatherings on June 28 in Christchurch, titled "In conversation with Bishop Katharine," and "Conversation and Language – violent and otherwise."
The following day (June 29), she will participate in a discussion titled "Science and Religion – your context or mine?" at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Before her ordination to the priesthood in 1994, Jefferts Schori had a career as a scientist, specializing in oceanography.
The Diocese of Christchurch, whose bishop is Victoria Matthews, shares a companion relationship with the Diocese of Northern Michigan.
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia covers 106,000 square miles and includes nearly 600,000 baptized members in nine dioceses throughout the countries of New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. The province was established as an autonomous church in 1857.
During her visit to Australia, the presiding bishop will preach July 4 at Christ Church St. Lucia in the Diocese of Brisbane, where Archbishop Philip Aspinall of the Anglican Church of Australia serves as bishop.
Jefferts Schori and Aspinall both have served on the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion since February 2007.
The Anglican Church of Australia covers more than 3 million square miles and includes almost 4 million baptized members throughout 23 dioceses.
The presiding bishop's visit to meet with Anglican Communion partners and build relationships across provinces follows a recent trip to the United Kingdom where she addressed the Scottish Episcopal Church's General Synod, the USPG-Anglicans in World Mission annual conference and preached and presided at Southwark Cathedral in London.