Episcopal Diocese of California

Bishop of California
Bishopric
anglican
Incumbent:
Marc Andrus
Province VIII
Diocese California
Cathedral Grace Cathedral
First incumbent William Ingraham Kip
Formation 1857
Website diocal.org
Location of the Diocese of California
The headquarters is located in the buildings adjacent to Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill in San Francisco.

The Episcopal Diocese of California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Northern California. The founding Episcopal diocese in the state, once encompassing all of California, today the diocese comprises Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, and the cities of Los Altos and part of Palo Alto in Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The see city is San Francisco, California and the diocesan cathedral is Grace Cathedral on top of Nob Hill.

The eighth and current Bishop of California is Marc Andrus, formerly Suffragan Bishop of Alabama, who was invested with the office on July 22, 2006, succeeding William E. Swing.

History

Bishop succession controversy

In October 2004, Swing announced his retirement at the diocesan convention. By early 2006, after a search process, a slate of seven finalists were presented to the diocese as candidates to succeed him. Among the seven finalists were three homosexuals; a lesbian and two gay men in long-term relationships with their partners. None of the seven candidates on the ballot had made an affirmation to the Church that their relationship was celibate. Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, a consultative body which expresses "the mind of the church" without having jurisdictional authority, had declared abstinence to be "right" for those not called to heterosexual marriage.

Normally, the election of a bishop is a local affair in which a bishop is elected with little fanfare and later confirmed by the bishops and standing committees of the church, or in a period of time preceding the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the convention's laity, clergy, and bishops approve newly elected bishops. But with the inclusion of three candidates who were openly lesbian or gay, following the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire, this election became widely watched by many in the Anglican Communion. Some feared that the elevation of a second gay bishop would cause a schism between the ECUSA and the rest of the Anglican Communion.[1][2]

Marc Andrus, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama was elected on the third ballot[3] with the openly homosexual candidates receiving only a few votes.[4] His election was confirmed at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in June 2006. He was invested as the eighth Bishop of California on July 22, 2006, at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

Affiliated Schools

The diocese operates The Episcopal School for Deacons as a college for training deacons. The school is located on the grounds of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, two blocks to the north of the University of California, Berkeley.

List of diocesan Bishops of California

Bishops of California
From Until Incumbent Notes
1857 1893 William Ingraham Kip Missionary Bishop to California, 1853–1856; died in office.
1893 1924 William Ford Nichols
1924 1940 Edward L. Parsons
1941 1958 Karl M. Block died September 20, 1958
1958 1966 James Pike resigned following censure for radical theological views.
1967 1979 Kim Myers previously suffragan bishop in Michigan.
1979 2006 William E. Swing
2006 present Marc Handley Andrus previously suffragan bishop in Alabama.

List of suffragan and assistant bishops

Suffragan and assistant bishops in California
From Until Incumbent Notes
1951 1958 Henry H. Shires, suffragan bishop
1960 1978 Richard Millard, suffragan bishop previously bishop over Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.
2008 2009 Steven Charleston, assistant bishop resigned.[5]

References

  1. ↑ San Francisco Chronicle – Episcopalians avoid rift in picking bishop
  2. ↑ BBC News – Bishop vote avoids gay clergy row, May 6, 2006
  3. ↑ Episcopal News Service – California diocese elects Marc Andrus as bishop, May 7, 2006
  4. ↑ Washington Post – Calif. Episcopalians Elect New Bishop
  5. ↑ Diocese of California – Bishop Steven Charleston announces transition

External links

Coordinates: 38°00′N 122°24′W / 38°N 122.4°W / 38; -122.4

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