Ten Questions For Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop Of The Episcopal Church

Fr. Dale Matson

Dear Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori,

            You may remember my first and only other communication with you as a private email I sent you soon after your enthronement as Presiding Bishop in 2006. You were kind enough to respond at that time to my concern for those like myself, who held conservative views in the Episcopal Church. I was encouraged by your response.  I was a lay person at the time and a vestry member of a congregation of the Episcopal Church. My wife and I later left that congregation and followed our Bishop, John David Schofield. I was ordained a deacon, a process begun in the Episcopal Church, and then a priest. Since 2006 I have read several things you have written including your interview in Time Magazine.  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1211587,00.html It also consisted of 10 questions. I have also read your annual Christmas and Easter messages. With each passing communication from you I must confess that I have become more confused and sometimes discouraged regarding what seems to me to be your personal beliefs and to what extent those beliefs reflect the mind of the Episcopal Church. For example, your 2012 Easter Message did not mention Jesus Christ. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/03/30/presiding-bishops-easter-message-give-thanks-for-easter/ This may seem presumptuous of me but I would like to ask you the following ten questions. If you feel uncomfortable with a public or even private response or that it is not my place to pose these questions of you, I would understand.       

1.      Do you believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?

2.      Do you believe that Jesus Christ was both God and human?

3.      Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to God the Father?

4.      Do you believe that He rose bodily from the dead and ascended to Heaven?

5.      Do you believe there is eternal damnation for those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior?

6.      Do you believe in original sin as an inherited condition of everyone born into this world?

7.      Do you believe in the three Persons of the Trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?

8.      Do you believe there is eternal life in Heaven for those who are in Christ?

9.      Do you believe that Christ is truly present in the elements of bread and wine, that they are truly His body and blood?

10.  Do you believe that the commission of the Church of Christ is to proclaim the Gospel and the summation of all the commandments is to love God and love neighbor?

Dale+