World

In LA, first lesbian Bishop elected by Episcopal Diocese

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | December 6, 2009 at 03:29 pm

329 views | 8 Recommendations | 2 comments

In Los Angeles, the first openly lesbian bishop has been elected by the Episcopal Diocese of LA. This is the first time a lesbian has been elected since the ban on gay bishops was lifted, thus allowing gays to become part of the highest ordained ministry.

Reverend Canon Mary Glasspool is 55, and has lived with another woman for 21 years.

Another gay candidate was the Reverend John Kirkley of San Francisco, but he withdrew late Friday, the church announcement said.

Glasspool received 153 votes in the clergy order and 203 lay votes, meeting the required majority of ballots after the Convention's necessary quorum was declared.
Consent to the election of Glasspool by the bishops and standing committees of the Episcopal Church's other 108 dioceses will now be requested under longstanding denominational procedures.

"I am very excited about the future of the whole Episcopal Church, and I see the Diocese of Los Angeles leading the way into that future," said Glasspool, a native of Staten Island, New York, whose father was also an Episcopal priest.

Glasspool?s election to fill one of two openings for bishops of the diocese followed the selection Friday of the Reverend Canon Diane Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church, the Los Angeles Times said.

The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history, according to The Times.

But it was the endorsement of Glasspool that riveted much of the convention as well as the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the US branch, the paper noted.

She was the first openly gay cleric to be elected bishop since the ordination of the Reverend Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.

His election threw the Episcopal Church and the global Anglican Communion into turmoil, prompting some conservative parishes and dioceses to leave the national church.

A resident of Annapolis, Maryland, Glasspool was ordained in 1982 in the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

She holds a master of divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Glasspool's life partner, Becki Sander, holds a doctorate in social work.