Episcopal Church leaders in Los Angeles on Sunday nominated two openly gay priests as bishops, becoming one of the first dioceses in the national church to test a controversial new policy that lifted a de facto ban on homosexuals in the ordained hierarchy.
The nominations of the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool of Baltimore are likely to further inflame theological conservatives in the U.S. church and their global partners in the Anglican Communion, who have repeatedly warned about the repercussions of such action.
They are among six nominees who will face election in December for two suffragan bishop positions at the Los Angeles diocese's annual convention. Suffragan bishops assist a diocese's primary bishop.
Home to 70,000 Episcopalians across six counties, the diocese is widely regarded as one of the most liberal in the U.S. church of 2.1 million members. Its bishop, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, is an outspoken advocate for the rights of gays in the church.
"I affirm each and every one of these candidates, and I am pleased with the wide diversity they offer this diocese," Bruno said in a statement Sunday.
Since the Episcopal Church's 2003 consecration of a partnered gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire, dozens of traditionalist parishes and four dioceses, including one in Central California, have voted to leave the national church.
The list of breakaway congregations includes several in the Los Angeles diocese, which has waged a costly, largely successful, legal battle over ownership of church properties.
Amid conflict over Bishop V. Gene Robinson's consecration, U.S. church leaders had promised to exercise restraint by agreeing not to consecrate bishops "whose manner of life" presented a challenge to the church and would strain ties with the communion. But they reversed course last month at their convention in Anaheim, voting overwhelmingly to open "any ordained ministry" to gays and lesbians. They also agreed to consider rites of blessing for same-sex couples.
Sunday's action in Los Angeles came a day after the Diocese of Minnesota nominated three priests for bishop, including a partnered lesbian, the Rev. Bonnie Perry. She is rector of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Chicago and an adjunct professor at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.
