The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elected the first woman bishop in its 114-year history today but had yet to decide whether to select an openly gay priest for a second bishop opening.
Clergy and lay leaders, meeting in Riverside for their annual convention, chose the Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, a local favorite from Orange County known for her financial expertise and ability to build up congregations.
Bruce, rector of St. Clement’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in San Clemente, edged out five other candidates, including two openly gay priests, for the first “suffragan” bishop post. Suffragan bishops assist a diocese’s primary bishop.
“All my life I have known that I have been called to serve God in Christ in God’s church,” Bruce wrote in her biography on the diocese’s website.
Picking a woman and a priest from within the diocese was the “safe” choice, a fairly obvious one probably. The surprising thing to me was that the first election was virtually a two-person race, effectively just between Diane Bruce and Mary Glasspool (the lesbian from the East Coast, i.e., Canon in Maryland).
Now that the glass ceiling has been broken for women in LA, it remains to be seen if Glasspool, who came in such a strong second, will be chosen as another white (Anglo) female, even if she is the darling of the LGBT crowd. I mean the two suffragsns who just retired were either black or Hispanic, so choosing two Anglo women might not seem to be so inclusive after all. After two ballots last night, it was evident that there was a big move afoot to support the leading Hispanic candidate.
However, I doubt that this surge will keep the affable Glasspool from being elected. I don’t have any inside information to go by, but there certainly has been a lot of very public talk by folks in LA about their eagerness to show their progressivism by electing the second “openly gay” bishop in TEC and the wider AC. Glasspool has an impressive resume, and her wealth of experience in diocesan administrative matters as Canon to the Ordinary in Baltimore sure doesn’t hurt. I think it’s a fairly safe bet that she’ll be elected today (Saturday).
After all, from the proud boasts of +Jon Bruno himself (at Lambeth last year) that his diocese was comprised of something like 20% gay and lesbian members, it appears that homosexuals are a significantly larger part of the constituency of the diocese than Hispanics. Despite the fact that in terms of mission strategy, there are MILLIONS more Hispanics in the LA area than homosexuals.
We’ll see. And then, if I’m right, we’ll likewise see what the fallout is internationally and ecumenically. Sadly, I doubt that ++Rowan Williams will do anything signficant at all. Which, of course, is actually quite significant. Not to take sides (at least openly) is still to take sides in this church civil war.
David Handy+