From TimesOnline (UK) via VirtueOnline:
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
The Archbishop of Canterbury's office yesterday described the election of an openly lesbian bishop in the United States as "regrettable" and warned that it could further threaten the unity of the Anglican Communion.
The London office of Dr Rowan Williams responded to the election of Canon Mary Glasspool to a suffragan see in Los Angeles by warning of "important implications". The statement from Lambeth Palace said that further consultations would now take place and regretted that calls for restraint had not been heeded.
The Episcopal News Service reported that Canon Glasspool, who held from the start that her sexuality was not an issue, had received the necessary consents from bishops and standing committees in the US for her consecration by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to go ahead in May.
Her election comes after that of the Anglican Communion's first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, whose election in 2003 took the worldwide Church to the brink of schism, where it remains. Both Bishop Robinson and Bishop-elect Glasspool have been with their current partners for many years.
Her election was strongly opposed by conservatives and is expected to exacerbate tensions and imperil the success of the new Covenant process, intended to find a basis of common doctrine and practice for the entire Church.
The Right Rev Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, praised the Episcopal Church for its "courage". He said that Canon Glasspool's election showed that the Episcopal Church "creates no barrier for ministry on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, among other factors".
Canon Glasspool, 56, said that she was overjoyed and grateful.
She added: "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."
During her 28-year ministry as a priest, she has served congregations in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
The Bishop of Maryland, the Right Rev Eugene Sutton, said that the election marked "a great day for the cause of justice and the ministry of reconciliation in the Episcopal Church. I rejoice that a majority of bishops and standing committees have seen in Canon Glasspool what we have experienced in the Diocese of Maryland, that she is an exceptionally gifted pastor, administrator and spiritually centred leader who will prove to be an outstanding member of the House of Bishops."
He prayed that "the whole church will be open to the Spirit's guidance as we all move forward together in light of this historic event. The time is now for us to remove old barriers of bigotry and exclusion, and recommit ourselves to welcoming all of our brothers and sisters in Christ."
Canon Kendall Harmon, a conservative blogger, said: "I'm very sad but I'm not surprised. It represents not simply a decision or a single act but a habit and therefore a pattern and therefore a chosen direction, without question."
He told the Episcopal News Service: "If you care at all about a sense of the church as a whole, the church has to read Scripture with and through the church. What's so sad about this is throughout history ... the church is reading Scripture to say you can't do this. But the Episcopal Church has already done it and done it repeatedly with no sense of the damage they're causing."
In spite of calls for restraint from clerics trying to preserve the Church from schism, the Episcopal Church's General Convention last July passed the controversial resolution that God's call to ordained ministry is "a mystery which the Church attempts to discern for all people through our discernment processes acting in accordance with [its] Constitution and Canons ..."
The Rev Susan Russell, campaigner on behalf of gay Christians and former president of the lobby group Integrity, said: "I've never been prouder to be an Episcopalian or a daughter of the Diocese of Los Angeles — where we are ready to turn this election into an opportunity for evangelism."
While Canon Glasspool, a clergy daughter, was rector of St Luke's and St Margaret's Church in Boston from 1992 to 2001, parish membership tripled from 50 to about 150.
However, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lambeth Palace statement made clear the tensions her election will provoke. It said: "It is regrettable that the appeals from Anglican Communion bodies for continuing gracious restraint have not been heeded. Following the Los Angeles election in December the Archbishop made clear that the outcome of the consent process would have important implications for the Communion. The Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion reiterated these concerns in its December resolution which called for the existing moratoria to be upheld. Further consultation will now take place about the implications and consequences of this decision."
The Most Rev Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, said: “With the election of the Reverend Mary Glasspool, a partnered lesbian, as a bishop in Los Angeles in The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion reaches another decisive moment.
"It is now absolutely clear to all that the national Church itself has formally committed itself to a pattern of life which is contrary to Scripture. The election of Bishop Robinson in 2003 was not an aberration to be corrected in due course. It was a true indication of the heart of the Church and the direction of its affairs.”
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