Congregations in the diocese did not gather and had no structure, she said. Jefferts Schori divided the diocese into four areas, which now meet several times a year.

Urban challenges

There is much more to do. Most importantly is to respond to the urban growth in Las Vegas and the Reno/Sparks area, she said.

"We need to be starting new faith communities in rapidly growing parts of the diocese," said Jefferts Schori, who is based in Las Vegas. "We need to be reaching out to the communities who are there, especially the different ethnic and immigrant communities. We're not just a white church, which is our reputation unfortunately."

Las Vegas has an African immigrant congregation and two Filipino congregations. Wadsworth and Nixon have American Indian congregations that Jefferts Schori said have been there for more than 100 years.

She said she is in partnership with the culinary union in Las Vegas to hire a Hispanic missioner. Currently the diocese has no Spanish-speaking services.

Three-fourths of the time, the person would work as a community organizer, helping the employees and the union members mobilize their pastors to be concerned about the issues of the workers. During the remaining time, the person would work for the diocese, helping to start Spanish-speaking congregations.

"That in itself is a very creative partnership," she said.

Immigration-rights issues are important to the Episcopal Church, she said.

The national coordinator for last year's immigrant workers freedom ride across the U.S. was an Episcopal priest based in Las Vegas.

"It's clearly an issue that the churches are not saying much about," she said. "But it is an issue of justice, an issue of hospitality. We need to be far more involved than we are. We are all immigrants."

The history of the Episcopal Church in Nevada begins with the miners in the late 1800s who brought their faith West with them.

"And insisted that it be present and an active part of the community," Jefferts Schori said.

Rural presence

There are 6,000 Episcopalians in the diocese's 37 congregations, which consist of Nevada, and a congregation in Bullhead City, Ariz. Most of the congregations are in Northern Nevada with about a dozen in the south.

Although the church has not kept pace with the rate of growth in the state, the bishop said it is slowly growing.

Another challenge is to maintain the Episcopalian presence in the remaining rural communities such as Austin, Ely, Eureka, Elko, Wells, Winnemucca, Lovelock and Tonopah. The Episcopalian communities are small but important, she said.

In the aged structures built during the mining heydays, the Episcopal churches often are the only traditional denomination left in town, she said.

"There's an important witness to remaining an active faith community in a place like that," she said.

"How does a faith community continue to support the life of that community as a whole body, as something more than a dying remnant?"

Many of those congregations have become ecumenical, reaching out to other Protestant religions, Jefferts Schori said.

Throughout history, women have played an important role in the Episcopal Church. Women's organizations raised funds and carried out many of the day-to-day functions.

The first woman bishop was Barbara Harris, a black woman elected in 1988. Jefferts Schori, 51, is the ninth woman elected as an Episcopal bishop in the U.S. The percentage rate of women who are active bishops hasn't changed in 10 years, Jefferts Schori said.

"As a woman bishop, I've had relatively little difficulty," she said.

"I know there were some people here who were against the idea of electing a woman. But they've been pretty quiet."

Ninety percent of the time, she said she loves her job.

"I really do. I love it."

END