On Saturday the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained an openly lesbian bishop. Mary Glasspool, 56 was ordained as an assistant bishop at a ceremony with 3000 supporters present. Glasspool is the second openly homosexual bishop in the Anglican church after the ordination of Gene Robinson back in 2003.
Head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Dr Rowan Williams had asked the American Church not to go ahead with the ordination. Describing the move as regrettable, Archbishop Williams also expressed concerns that it would cause further upset to traditionalists who maintain that the practice of homosexuality is sinful. Dr Williams said that Canon Glasspool’s ordination “raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopalian Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole”.
Likewise a spokesman for the Church of Ireland raised concern over the appointment, describing it as “both wrong and disappointing”.
There were protestors present who were escorted out by security guards.
The Episcopal decision to go ahead with the ceremony, in the face of high profile criticism from Dr Williams and pressure from other Anglicans demonstrates their determination in accepting same-sex relationships.
During the ceremony, Bishop Jon Bruno defended the church’s approach to inclusion and said: “The world's transformed only if we turn to each and every one of our brothers and sisters and see the face of Christ superimposed on them. The ones we disagree with most are the ones we're obligated to share our lives and teach the most.”
The US lesbian priest Rev Susan Russell was also present at the ceremony and spoke of a different atmosphere compared to that at the time of the ordination of Gene Robinson: “What a difference seven years makes. Then there were police lines and bomb threats and CNN trucks with live satellite coverage of our every move as we gathered at a New Hampshire hockey rink to make Gene Robinson a Bishop in the Church of God. Today’s press conference drew a handful of church media and a local reporter or two. And the only lines we needed to cross were the ones in the hotel cocktail lounge.”
After the ordination of Gene Robinson, the first homosexual to be ordained, back in 2003, the Anglican Church experienced recrimination resulting in the formation of several groups opposed to the move. Breakaway Episcopal conservatives have since formed a rival church, the Anglican Church in North America.
Glasspool was ordained alongside the Reverend Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, of San Clemente, California. Last year they were both elected as assistant bishops in the Los Angeles diocese's six-county territory but conservative Episcopalians had urged the church not to ordain Glasspool.