Los Angeles Bishop Suffragan-elect Mary Glasspool receives church's consent for ordination

The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop’s office notifies Diocese of Los Angeles of successful canonical consent process

Bishop-Elect Glasspool ordination and consecration on May 15

March 17, 2010

The Governance of The Episcopal Church: This information is another in an ongoing series discussing the governance of The Episcopal Church.
The Office of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has notified the Diocese of Los Angeles that the canonical consent process for Bishop-Elect Mary Douglas Glasspool has been successfully completed.

As outlined under Canon III.11.4 (a), the Presiding Bishop confirmed the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and has also reviewed the evidence of consents from a majority of standing committees of the Church sent to her by the diocesan standing committee.

In Canon III.11.4 (b), Standing Committees, in consenting to the ordination and consecration, attest they are “fully sensible of how important it is that the Sacred Order and Office of a Bishop should not be unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty to bear testimony on this solemn occasion without partiality, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that we know of no impediment on account of which the Reverend A.B. ought not to be ordained to that Holy Office. We do, moreover, jointly and severally declare that we believe the Reverend A.B. to have been duly and lawfully elected and to be of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ.”

Glasspool was elected Bishop Suffragan on December 5, 2009. Her ordination and consecration is slated for May 15; Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will officiate.

A recap of the process

Upon election, the successful candidate is a bishop-elect. Following some procedural matters including physical and psychological examinations, formal notices are then sent by the Presiding Bishop’s office to bishops with jurisdiction (diocesan bishops only) with separate notices from the electing diocese to the standing committees of each of the dioceses in The Episcopal Church. These notices require their own actions and signatures.

In order for a bishop-elect to become a bishop, Canon III.11.4 (a) of The Episcopal Church mandates that a majority of diocesan bishops AND a majority of diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect’s ordination and consecration as bishop. These actions ”“ done separately – must be completed within 120 days from the day notice of the election was sent to the proper parties.

If the bishop-elect receives a majority (at least 50% plus 1) of consents from the diocesan bishops as well as a majority from the standing committees, the bishop-elect is one step closer. Following a successful consent process, ordination and celebration are in order.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, Episcopal Church (TEC), Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), TEC Bishops, TEC Conflicts, TEC Conflicts: Los Angeles

27 comments on “Los Angeles Bishop Suffragan-elect Mary Glasspool receives church's consent for ordination

  1. evan miller says:

    There’s no attached article. Is this just to inform us that she has received the necessary consents to her election? I assume from both standing committees and bishops?

  2. Kendall Harmon says:

    Correct #1.

  3. Br. Michael says:

    From Standfirm:

    [blockquote] [Episcopal News Service] Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop Suffragan-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool has received the required number of consents from diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to her ordination and consecration, the presiding bishop’s office has confirmed.
    Glasspool, 56, was elected bishop suffragan on Dec. 5. Her consecration is set for May 15.

    Glasspool is the second openly gay partnered priest to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church.

    An ENS story will follow.[/blockquote]

    No surprise, however. I wonder if the ABC will send TEC a strongly worded letter?

  4. David Keller says:

    We are now OFFICIALLY a cult. I hope I can retire in Hilton Head or Mt. Pleasant so I can still go to church.

  5. evan miller says:

    #2
    Well, well, well. The gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down.

  6. jayanthony says:

    #5; you mean “well and truly thrown down [i] again [/i]”

  7. Jon says:

    Does anyone know whether TEC will release a voting record, showing how each bishop and each standing committee voted? Kendall, do you know? If they will, when is it likely we will see this?

  8. Adam 12 says:

    Many years ago when I was of course younger and greener I was talking to a Presbyterian pastor who told me he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the French Revolution. I was totally mystified by this as to my young ears it seemed to have little to do with theology. Being older and better read now, I can see how pertinent it is as a study of the self-infaturation and self-glorification of man. It has since intrigued me how many of the innovations of that era–such as the 10-day week and the conversion of Notre-Dame into the Temple of Reason– have been swept into the dustbin of history but the Church Catholic survives.

  9. Jon says:

    In defense of those who voted YES, I approve of the honesty. At least they have rejected the path of further deception that the ABC has been implicitly urging them on. No more votes (as in 2006) that are calculated to allay, or mislead, all the while knowing that they planned to encourage SSUs in their diocese and otherwise support Integrity’s agenda.

    It will be interesting to see who voted NO. A “no” vote seems very unethical except if the bishop takes Windsor very seriously and planned to uphold it in entirety for at least the next 20 years.

  10. LumenChristie says:

    So here’s a plan for a response:

    Let’s have lots of meetings and conferences. Of course we MUST have lots of scholarly papers, analyses and in-depth studies.

    Let’s have some committee reports. And discuss them. And let’s convene a commission to make requests and suggestions

    That we ignore.

    Let’s discuss this some more. And — Oh! — listen to each other. And seek to walk together

    [b][i]For ANOTHER Seven Years[/i][/b]

    A St. Patrick’s Day poetic quote from the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats:

    [blockquote]Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.

    Oh when will it suffice?

    That is heaven’s part….[/blockquote]

  11. Bull Street says:

    “Following a successful consent process, ordination and celebration are in order.” I must say I find this final sentence oddly stilted. I wish I knew enough literary theory to name what I feel. It has the tone of a British club for men of standing. I expect a “Hear, hear old boy (girl in this case I guess).”

  12. frdarin says:

    This is what happens when a group is unable to transcend itself and judge its own actions by any rules other than the ones self-described. Where there ought to be interdependence as a member province of the Anglican Communion, TEC is quite content to set its own agenda, label those in ACNA as “not Anglican” because they lack endorsement of the Instruments of Communion, and thumb their noses without consequence at the Communion. There is little doubt left that TEC is a political movement with the trappings of liturgical worship. Sounds a lot like the errant religious system the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke against. May God have mercy.

    Fr. Darin Lovelace+
    St. John’s Anglican Church
    Park City UT

  13. Katie My Rib says:

    “Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
    Against false words of heresy,
    Against the knowledge that defiles,
    Against the heart’s idolatry,
    Against the wizard’s evil craft,
    Against the death-wound and the burning
    The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
    Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.”
    [i]from St. Patrick’s Breastplate [/i]

  14. LumenChristie says:

    Thank you, Fr Darin.

    I hope my New York sarcasm was not lost on anyone.

    This game that TEC is playing has got to come to an end.

    If not Now, then WHEN?!?

  15. William P. Sulik says:

    Just as in Hamlet, the ABC will dither and the stage will be deep in bodies.

  16. William P. Sulik says:

    Thank you #13 – I really needed that.

  17. A Senior Priest says:

    Yawn. Why does anyone care about this stuff any more? No one was surprised, surely? The only matter of import in the TEC arena any more is whether or not some kind of amicable separation can be achieved between the two sides. And even that is highly doubtful.

  18. miserable sinner says:

    My SFIF post:
    So, the post-Anaheim victory lap is complete. How very predictable. Yaaaaaawn. zzzzzzzz. . .

    Peace,
    -wwm
    P.S. The listening process is now offically over. Thanks for playing.

  19. Mike Watson says:

    The above quoted release from the Office of Public Affairs cites canon III.11.4(b) for the language of consent from the several dioceses, but misleadingly inserts the text of canon III.11.4(a) for the testimonial of the electing diocese.

  20. Kendall Harmon says:

    #13–Most appropriate on Patrick’s feast day–thanks.

  21. frdarin says:

    So now that the “period of gracious restraint” has been ended, I’m thinking of a Saturday Night Live skit of a few years ago (Coffee Talk).

    Here’s a topic: the period of gracious restraint has been neither gracious nor restrained. Discuss.

    Fr. Darin Lovelace+
    St. John’s Anglican
    Park City UT

  22. Cennydd says:

    I hereby formally suggest that when we mention TEC, we call them ‘The Episcopal Cult’ (pun intended, of course), for this is what so many now believe them to have become……or so it seems to me, at least. (wink!)

  23. f/k/a_revdons says:

    frdarin,

    That skit was “Coffee Talk with Paul Baldwin.” Brings back many memories of my college years. Memories I need now that our church has taken a second leap off a cliff.

  24. episcoanglican says:

    I have been gone from TEC for almost two years and I am not surprised, except by my grief. I grieve for Mary Glasspool and her partner and for all the homosexual and lesbian clergy who think this is a victory. I grieve for all the glbt and “questioning” souls given encouragement to a way of life that brings eternal death. I grieve for this once great church and its relations with the Anglican Communion. I grieve for others emboldened to declare sin holy in other parts of the Christian world. I grieve at this victory of the Father of Lies.

    And then I remember my grief at the cross and my surprise that this is where God chose to show forth his glory, turning apparent defeat into victory. Lord, I thank you that you bring life from death. Maranatha. Maranatha.

  25. dwstroudmd+ says:

    There is real grief amidst the rejoicing. The simple country bishop of New Hampshire will now have to share the spotlight.

  26. Ad Orientem says:

    ANATHEMA!

  27. art says:

    If I had the skill to put a link to U2’s song (with Pavarotti accompanying them) “Miss Sarajevo”, then I’d do so, either sound or video – especially the video, which is dramatic, to say the least. For not only does this update upon Yeats, Irish Hymns etc, as above. It propels us into the ghastly ironies and wretchedness that is truly upon us, and in a way that communicates across most western generations, not merely among the current ‘boomers’ in power …