Archbishop of Canterbury Not So Thrilled About New Lesbian Bishop

12/6/09-by Paula Brooks
Fearing that the election of a second openly gay bishop will lead to a breakaway of conservative Anglican in the US and Britain, The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his concern after yesterday’s election of Reverend Mary Glasspool, as the second openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church.

Rev. Glasspool, 55, who is openly lesbian, and has been a canon in the Diocese of Maryland for past eight years, was elected by the 70,000 member Los Angeles diocese annual convention on Saturday to be an assistant bishop in the diocese of Los Angeles.

In a statement posted on his website,  Archbishop Rowan Williams said Glasspool’s election “raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole”.

Williams also noted that the election of the Rev. Glasspool in the diocese of Los Angeles had yet to be confirmed. “The process of selection however is only part complete… The election has to be confirmed, or could be rejected, by diocesan bishops and diocesan standing committees. That decision will have very important implications.”

“The bishops of the Communion have collectively acknowledged that a period of gracious restraint in respect of actions which are contrary to the mind of the Communion is necessary if our bonds of mutual affection are to hold,” added The Archbishop.

While Glasspool will need a majority of national Episcopal Church leaders to back her consecration, the Episcopal Church leader in the United States, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, has said she will consecrate any bishop whose election was done in accordance with the rules of the Episcopal Church.

The Reverend Rod Thomas of the evangelical Reform movement in the Anglican Church said if the Los Angeles appointment is confirmed, “I think a schism is absolutely inevitable.”

In July, Bishops of the US Episcopal Church voted to overturn a three-year ban on the appointment of gay bishops.

Historically the worldwide network of Anglican churches owe allegiance The Archbishop of Canterbury and Anglican leaders had asked the US Church to observe the moratorium after Bishop V. Gene Robinson was chosen in New Hampshire in 2003.

It was Robinson’s selection as a bishop six years ago that caused a schism in the US Anglican Church, which led to dozens of conservative parishes and four dioceses voting to leave the 2.1-million member denomination and the churches implementation of the de facto ban on electing any more gay bishops.

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