Westminster to host first female Episcopal presiding bishop for C.S. Lewis lecture

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman in the history of the Episcopal Church to become presiding bishop, will be this year's C.S. Lewis Lecture speaker talking about science and religion.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman in the history of the Episcopal Church to become presiding bishop, will be this year's C.S. Lewis Lecture speaker talking about science and religion.

When discussing whom to invite to give this year's C.S. Lewis Lecture on the relationship between science and religion, one person immediately came to mind for Westminster College President Barney Forsythe.

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman in the history of the Episcopal Church to become presiding bishop, accepted the invitation, and will be speaking at 11 a.m. Feb. 27 in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury. Jefferts Schori also will preside over a service at 2 p.m.

"We are quite honored that the Presiding Bishop accepted our invitation to lecture," Westminster professor Cliff Cain, the Harrod-C.S. Lewis Professor of Religious Studies chair, said in a press release. "Because of her academic credentials and experience, she is well qualified to speak about the important subject of the relationship of science and religion."

Before becoming ordained as a priest in 1994, Jefferts Schori was an oceanographer - she holds a B.S. in biology from Stanford University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University. She served as a university lecturer and hospice chaplain in Oregon before being elected the 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in June 2006. She also is an active, instrument-rated pilot.