Schori, Katharine Jefferts

Katharine Jefferts Schori is the head of the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA). At her 2006 installation as presiding bishop, she became the first woman to lead any branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the first woman in the United States to lead a major Protestant denomination. Her short term of service in the church prior to her election, her gender, and her support of the ordination of gay clergy and same-sex marriage increased fears of a rift both within the ECUSA and between that body and the 77 million worldwide Anglican Communion. Schori has not wavered in her progressive allegiances, even in the face of conservative groups such as the diocese of Pittsburg leaving the ECUSA.

Born Katharine Jefferts in Pensacola, Florida, ...