“I think a gay candidate has a strong possibility of being elected,” the Rev. Altagracia Perez, rector of Holy Faith Church in Inglewood, told me. “Most people I’ve asked say she’s their first or second choice. She has a great resume.”
“I think Mary has a great chance,” said the Rev. Brad Karelius, rector of Messiah parish in downtown Santa Ana and a senior priest in the diocese. “There is aggressive lobbying by the gay-lesbian constituency here to get a gay bishop.
“Her biggest challenge – I’m saying this as a lifelong Californian – is the culture. This is the most religiously diverse area in the world … and I don’t know how East Coast formalities would work here.”
Susan Russell, the former president of the Episcopal gay caucus Integrity and a priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, told me that Ms. Glasspool had been “well-received.”
Mary Glasspool has to be a very strong candidate. She has a strong, warm, friendly personality, substantial executive experience, and is a compelling, brilliant speaker. I know her through her involvment with and support of the Maryland Episcopal Cursillo community. In the Dio MD, there are too many parishes and organized congregations for our two bishops to visit each year, so that Mary also conducts episcopal visits, as a stand-in for the bishop; we have a three-person annual rotation. And she does a fine job.
I have to add that I hold a much more traditional view of theology than Mary does, and that my thinking is probably not in line with much of the Dio L.A. Also, I was unaware that Mary was a partnered homosexual until the Dio L.A. released that info with her nomination this summer. If TEC is ever to elect a lesbian bishop, there is no one better than Mary.
Best wishes, Mary. Ultreya!
Does lobbying = movement of the Spirit?