Wednesday, March 17, 2010

From the Bishop and Bishops-elect in the Diocese of Los Angeles

Just received via email:

[The Episcopal News, Los Angeles, March 17, 2010] - The Diocese of Los Angeles received word from the Presiding Bishop's Office on March 17 of completion of the wider church's consent process to the Dec. 5, 2009 election of the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool as Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

The consent process to the Dec. 4 election of the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce as Bishop Suffragan was completed earlier, on Feb. 17. Following are statements from Bishop J. Jon Bruno, and Bishops Suffragan-elect Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary Douglas Glasspool.


From the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bishop Bruno

"I give thanks for the Standing Committees and Bishops who have consented to the elections of Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary Douglas Glasspool as bishops suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

"The committee members and bishops have offered their consents in prayerful discernment and by doing so have joined the Diocese of Los Angeles in recognizing and affirming the many gifts and skills of these highly qualified and experienced clerics.

"Both Bishops-elect Bruce and Glasspool have been clear in stating that their new ministries will be focused on the work of the Diocese of Los Angeles as a priority, and the clergy and laity of this Diocese are eager to begin new collaboration with them.

"These historic elections bring the first women to the episcopate in the Diocese of Los Angeles. I give thanks for this, and that the Standing Committees and Bishops have demonstrated through their consents that the Episcopal Church, by canon, creates no barrier for ministry on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, among other factors."

From Bishop-elect Diane Jardine Bruce:

"I am excited about working with both Bishop Jon and Mary as we move forward in mission and ministry in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Receiving the consents from the Bishops and Standing Committees has been, again, humbling for me. As we begin with this new team, I am encouraged by the support I have received from Bishop Jon and Mary and from clergy and laity throughout the Diocese. Rooted in prayer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I pray we all grow and flourish in Christ's love."

From Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool:

"It is a privilege to serve in a Church gathered around the life, ministry, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our Church takes seriously its leadership, and so engages in a process whereby the lay and clerical members of Standing Committees of The Episcopal Church, as well as bishops from each of its dioceses, have the opportunity through prayer and discernment, to confirm the appropriateness of the election to leadership of each bishop. Thus, I am overjoyed that a majority of Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction have given their consent to the elections of both Bishops Suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

"I am profoundly grateful for the many people - in Los Angeles, in Maryland, and around the world - who have given their prayers, love, and support during this time of discernment. I am also aware that not everyone rejoices in this election and consent, and will work, pray, and continue to extend my own hands and heart to bridge those gaps, and strengthen the bonds of affection among all people, in the Name of Jesus Christ. I am so very blessed to be working with Bishop Jon, Bishop-elect Diane, and the incredible people of the Diocese of Los Angeles; and I offer deep gratitude, as well, to Bishops Chester Talton and Sergio Carranza, whose Christ-centered leadership have moved the Church closer to God's Reign on earth."

15 comments:

JCF said...

O Happy Day! O Joyful, Joyful Day!

Nevermind Lent (just this once): Alleluia! Gloria in Excelsis! :-D

Will J said...

Thanks be!

Nicole Porter said...

I hope you guys are happy having our Church being the laughing stock of other Churches. Congratulations, you've earned it for the rest of us.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Martin ... we're frankly thinking of it more as "a light to enlighten the nations" kind of thing.

Thanks for stopping by to share the joy!

Nicole Porter said...

I assure you Reverend that I share no joy or thanksgiving in this action at all.

uffda51 said...

Martin, while I’m not sure I understand your obsession with the sex lives of other people, I think Pat Robertson’s Haitian earthquake comments have already garnered the Religious Laughing Stock award for 2010. The Rapture crowd, as always, were certainly in the running.

Newly elected Virginia governor Bob McDonnell is a graduate of Regent University Law School, which was founded by Robertson. Just days into his first term as Governor, McDonnell issued an executive order making it legal to discriminate against gays. Perhaps you’ll find joy and thanksgiving in that.

I, for one, am proud to be part of a diocese taking a stand against homophobia and ignorance. Congratulations to our new bishops!

Nicole Porter said...

1-I don't have an obsession with the sex life of ANY individual.

2-I find no joy in discrimination of anyone when it comes to civil matters. The Church is NOT a civil institution, it's God's institution! Just because I am against homosexual bishops doesn't mean that I'm "homophobic", a "bigot", or whatever other adjective you like to add to people who don't agree with what has happened. Stop crying foul when someone speaks against this!

Wormwood's Doxy said...

Stop crying foul when someone speaks against this!

I will NEVER stop "crying foul" when people are stripped of their humanity by the church that claims to speak for God and defined solely by what they do with consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes--rather than by the fruit they bear, as Jesus said his followers should be.

I will NEVER stop "crying foul" when "Christians" focus so much energy on sexual "sins," while completely ignoring Jesus' injunctions to care for the poor and the vulnerable.

I will NEVER stop "crying foul" when "Christians" define same-sex love as worse than all other sins and bar the doors of the church to those they deem insufficiently penitent--while routinely granting forgiveness to remarried divorced people (like me).

I will NEVER stop "crying foul" when the Bible is used as a weapon to hurt and kill other human beings who are made in the image of God, and whose only "crime" is to desire love and intimacy with someone of the same sex.

I will keep "crying foul" when people claim an affiliation with Jesus--and then sit in judgment of others, against Jesus' express decree, and fail to follow the Greatest Commandments, as articulated by our Lord.

Doxy

Anonymous said...

Amen Doxy!

MarkBrunson said...

Boring, Martin.

We've been a laughing-stock. Now, we're moving away from that, to be an actual representative of God's Love.

Join in or dry up and blow away like your own compassion, but stop pretending there's any "foul" to cry against.

MarkBrunson said...

WHY didn't I realize this before?!

Martin,

You are in such a fortunate position! You can suffer for the rest of us!

Just think of it as . . . I don't know . . . gracious restraint or, or, "standing in a crucified place" for your brothers and sisters.

I understand that thinking that way helps the time spent suffering pass like a dream in the night!

Nicole Porter said...

Mark, my opinions make you burn up that much? What exactly am I supposed to be joining in? I'm already baptized into His Kingdom. I've already made a confession of faith. Listen Mark, regardless of our Church ordaining non-celibate homosexual clergy and preforming same-sex "blessings", the majority of Christians will never accept homosexuality. You'll be lucky if some of them will tolerate it, unlike those in Iran, Uganda and the like. Like I said before Mark, I'm all for civil rights for homosexuals, including civil marriage, not to be confused with Holy Matrimony. There is a difference between the two. As an Air Force veteran, DADT was the most idiotic thing the Department of Defense ever came up with, it shouldn't have ever came to past. Stop making me out to be some type of homo-hunter looking to burn them on a pyre because I disagree with this.

Nicole Porter said...

Another thing Mark, there is definitely something to cry foul over whether you want to believe it or not. Our Bishops are not just Bishops of a particular diocese, but of the WHOLE Church like I mentioned before. This particular candidate has done nothing but cause rift since her election. Should Bishops really be causing these types of troubles? The funnest thing I get from all of this is the day after the "news" came in, I seen an article titled "Latino coalition seeks to expand voice" on the Church's Facebook page. I thought to myself...gee, Los Angeles really missed out on that chance during the final ballots didn't they? I hope Glasspool doesn't expect any better treatment than Robinson gets. She'll probably do better to stay in her office at St.Paul's.

MarkBrunson said...

What burns me up is your casual cruelty and blatant sadistic joy in trying to take away the joy people - who've been seriously mistreated by people like you for centuries - because you don't think it's "fair."

Crucified place. You actually choose it. Enjoy.

And . . .

No. No foul. If they're bishops of the "whole church" (try that crap with Baptists, btw - or are they not Christian?), then they're our bishops, too. Get over your privilege and hatred.

Stop acting like a spoiled adolescent. It's contemptible.

JCF said...

I hope you guys are happy having our Church being the laughing stock of other Churches. Congratulations, you've earned it for the rest of us.

Ya think so, Martin T.?

Go read Matthew 9:24. I think we're in THE BEST company!