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Glasspool Election Moves into Consent Phase
Process that was once a near-certainty gains controversy
by Jeff Walton
http://www.theird.org/Page.aspx?pid=1295
December 10, 2009
The election of Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has moved the controversial bishop nominee's elevation into a church-wide issue. After lay and clergy deputies to the diocesan convention cast ballots in favor of Glasspool and fellow nominee Diane Jardin Bruce to fill two vacant suffragan positions, church rules require the nominee to receive consent to their election from a majority of bishops and diocesan standing committees.
Glasspool, who lives in a lesbian relationship with her unmarried partner, has been criticized by traditionalists. She is the first openly-gay candidate to be elected to the office of bishop since New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson was consecrated in 2003. Following Robinson's election and consecration, the Episcopal Church adopted a moratorium on the consecration of additional openly-homosexual bishops at the urging of the worldwide Anglican Communion. At its 2009 General Convention in Anaheim, California, the church effectively rescinded the moratorium. Openly gay candidates have been nominated for bishop in the dioceses of California (San Francisco), Minnesota and Chicago, but none have been elected.
There are 109 dioceses in the Episcopal Church, spanning 16 countries. Not all have bishops, due to vacancies in a handful of dioceses. In order to receive consent for the election of a new bishop, the diocese must send notification of the election to each standing committee and bishop with jurisdiction (in this case, an active diocesan bishop).
Within 120 days of receiving notification, these groups must then send on letters of consent to the Episcopal Church Center in New York, which will tabulate the results and announce if the elected candidate has obtained the necessary consent.
There is no option for a diocese to abstain from voting, as failing to send a letter of consent is the same as denying consent.
The process of obtaining consent has usually been without controversy, with no bishop being rejected for theological reasons for decades. This changed in 2007, when bishop-elect Mark Lawrence of South Carolina was able to obtain consent in his first election, but some ballots arrived after the 120 day deadline. Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori declared the election null and void, and the process had to be re-started, beginning with a new election. Ultimately, Lawrence's second election was consented to, and he became bishop.
Two years later, the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester was elected to be the bishop of the tiny Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan. Thew Forrester sparked controversy when his "lay ordination" by Zen Buddhists, which had occurred earlier in the decade, was reported by the Living Church magazine. Conservative Anglican bloggers immediately seized upon the issue, and subsequent investigation revealed that Thew Forrester had unilaterally "enhanced" the prayer book by deleting sentences from the baptismal rite.
Unlike Lawrence's election, which was largely viewed as a question of the candidate's loyalty to the institution of the Episcopal Church, Thew Forrester's election was called into question due to his theology and practices. Ultimately he was denied consent by a wide margin, with both traditionalist and revisionist dioceses opposing his election for varied reasons.
Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order have expressed concern about Glasspool's election, noting that if Glasspool is able to obtain consent, it will "strain the bonds of affection" between the churches that comprise the communion.
Should she receive consent, Glasspool is scheduled to be installed as Suffragan Bishop in May of 2010.
Episcopal Church Terminology
Standing Committee: a body of priests and lay leaders elected by diocesan convention to lead a diocese.
Suffragan: an assisting bishop without the right of succession (as opposed to a coadjutor)
Consent process: the system of consultation by which an elected nominee for the episcopate is approved by other bishops and standing committees in the church.
Canon: a member of a cathedral's establishment or an honorary title given to senior parish priests in a diocese.
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