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The Presiding Bishop
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The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is elected every nine years to serve as the Chief Pastor and Primate of the Church. In this role, the Presiding Bishop has responsibility for initiating and developing policy of the Church and speaking for the Church about the policies, strategies, and programs authorized by the General Convention.  The Presiding Bishop is charged to speak God’s word to the Church and to the world, as the representative of this Church and its bishops. In addition to these key roles the Presiding Bishop oversees and presides at meetings of the House of Bishops, provides for episcopal ministry in cases of vacancies and makes pastoral visitations to all dioceses of the Church.

Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected to a nine-year term as Presiding Bishop at the 75th General Convention and took office in November, 2006. She serves as Chief Pastor and Primate of The Episcopal Church, president of the House of Bishops, president and chief executive officer of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, and president or chair of many Episcopal Church boards and agencies.

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“Shalom” – the understanding of God’s Reign as elaborated by the prophet Isaiah and claimed by Jesus in Luke’s gospel – is the centerpiece of God’s mission for Katharine Jefferts Schori, who took office November 1, 2006, as 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Jefferts Schori was elected to this office on June 18, 2006 by vote of the 75th General Convention, in Columbus, Ohio.  This Convention also set the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as the Episcopal Church’s top mission priority.  In her full endorsement of these goals, Bishop Jefferts Schori calls upon Episcopalians and the wider global community to work together for their implementation.

Bishop Jefferts Schori’s career as an oceanographer preceded her studies for the priesthood, to which she was ordained in 1994. She remains an active, instrument-rated pilot – a skill she applied when traveling between the congregations of the Diocese of Nevada, where she was elected bishop in 2000 and ordained to the episcopate February 24, 2001. At the time of her election as bishop of Nevada, she was a priest, university lecturer, and hospice chaplain in Oregon.

Bishop Jefferts Schori holds a B.S. degree in biology from Stanford University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University, an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and several honorary doctoral degrees.

Bishop Jefferts Schori grew up in the Seattle area and later moved with her family to New Jersey. Bishop Jefferts Schori is married to Richard Miles Schori, a retired theoretical mathematician.   They have an adult daughter who is a pilot in the U. S. Air Force.

Bishop Jefferts Schori brings to her ministry emphases on baptismal ministry, adult education, multiculturalism, and the interconnectedness of all creation. As Presiding Bishop, she serves as chief pastor to the Episcopal Church’s members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses. As Primate, Bishop Jefferts Schori joins with other principal bishops of the 38 member Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion, seeking to make common cause for global good and reconciliation.