A Second Gay Bishop for the Episcopal Church?

by Michael Jones · 2009-08-03 04:53:00 UTC
Topics:

Episcopal Church

Last month, the U.S. Episcopal Church ended their moratorium on nominating openly gay and lesbian clergy for bishop positions, putting to an end a policy that kept well-qualified LGBT clergy from reaching leadership positions within Episcopal dioceses.  The move - sparked after openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson was elected to head the New Hampshire Episcopal Diocese - was meant to help bridge the gap between social justice advocates within the church, and church leaders who towed a far more conservative (and discriminatory) line.

Well, less than a month after ending that moratorium, the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese has nominated six people for two bishop positions within the diocese - and two of those six nominations happen to be LGBT.  The Rev. Mary D. Glasspool of Baltimore (openly lesbian) and the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco (openly gay) will be among those considered for these two bishop positions when the Los Angeles Diocese votes in December.

Talk about putting teeth behind the decision to end the moratorium on LGBT clergy.  The Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese just stepped up to the plate.

And to back that statement up, here's the Episcopal Bishop of California, Rev. Marc Andrus:

This is really in keeping with the trajectory of our church toward justice and the recognition . . . of the full rights of gay and lesbian people.

Full rights within the church.  Openly gay and lesbian candidates for bishop.  Yup, sure sounds like the Episcopal Church is moving in the direction of inclusion and social justice.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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