Mary Glasspool, the First Lesbian U.S. Bishop
by Michael A. Jones
The Episcopal Church makes history again. Back in 2003, it was the ordination of openly gay Bishop Eugene Robinson that sent waves through the religious world. Now, six years later, the Episcopal Church will welcome its first lesbian ordained bishop with Rev. Mary Glasspool in Los Angeles.
Rev. Glasspool, currently an Episcopalian priest in Maryland, was elected bishop over the weekend. She'll become one of two auxiliary bishops for the Los Angeles diocese, joining Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, who was elected on Friday. The two will become the first women bishops of the entire diocese.
And now, a personal statement by Rt Rev. Glasspool:
Provide a description of your walk with God in Christ that brought you to this moment of discerning a call to the episcopate in our diocese.
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14b, RSV)
I was born in February 1954, on a rainy Tuesday (Tuesday’s child is full of grace) in Staten Island Hospital, New York, where my father was Rector of St. Simon’s Episcopal Church and Vicar of All Saints’. Both my parents grew up in the Episcopal Church, and each modeled a profound faith in God that was given to me as gift while I grew up. We moved to Goshen, N.Y., in April of 1954 where my father was Rector of St. James’ Church for the next 35 years until his death in 1989. As with most children, I suspect, God was more transcendent than immanent, more other than palpable in community to me.
It was during my college years (1972-1976) that I began to discern a vocation to ordained ministry and concomitantly to discover my sexuality. Both these areas were sources of intense struggle for me, as I wrestled with such questions as; Did God hate me (since I was a homosexual)? or Did God love me? Did I hate (or love) myself? Was it really possible, not to mention appropriate, for women to be priests? My father’s answer to this last question was a resounding NO, and true to his own colors he never publicly supported women’s ordination, although I became something of an exception to the rule.
God was still transcendent and other to me as I entered Episcopal Divinity School in the Fall of 1976, just as the General Convention in Minneapolis was wrestling to recognize the reality of women called to be priests, the new Prayer Book, and what to do with the Philadelphia 11 and the Washington 5 as we termed them at EDS. My role models at that time represented two different ways of doing things in response to God’s call: Carter Heyward and Carol Anderson. Carter, for me, represented the courage to break through barriers – not without cost – in order to become fully the person God is calling you to become. Carol represented the sacrificial love of the Church that manifested itself in restraint, and also came at great cost. Both of these courageous women have continued to model for me the integrity of responding to God’s call with your whole person, being exactly who you are.
After my ordination to the Diaconate on June 13, 1981, I became Assistant to the Rector at St. Paul’s Church in Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia) under the tutelage and rectorship of Jim Moodey. God was beginning to be more in Christ for me, more present, closer, more a part of my daily walk. I grew a lot in three years at St. Paul’s, staying in touch with my spiritual director: Martin Smith, and being the only full-time cleric at the resource size parish when Jim was elected Bishop of Ohio and the parish moved into transition. When the next Rector of St. Paul’s was called, I accepted a call to become Rector of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s (SLAM, as we affectionately referred to ourselves) in the Allston section of Boston. For the next seven years I helped the Holy Spirit build up this exciting branch of the Body of Christ while simultaneously dealing with a host of urban issues such as immigration, housing as a right, the four-pronged economic justice plan that came out of General Convention in 1988 and focused on land trusts, cooperative housing, worker-owned businesses and community development credit unions. And, because the kairos appeared to be coming, I had the privilege and subsequent joy of nominating and working with Barbara Harris, as she became the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion.
It was in Boston that I met my life partner, Becki Sander, as she was studying for a dual degree in theology and social work. We have been together since 1988, and Becki has just earned her Ph.D. in Social Work, having written an excellent thesis on Restorative Justice. God has blessed us richly and continues to do so.
In something of a surprise move, God next called me south of the Mason-Dixon Line to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Maryland where I had the honor of being Rector for the next nine-and-one-half years (1992-2001). While striving to be honest about who I was (when asked directly about my sexuality I responded honestly and directly), it was also a time in the church when uncertainty about issues of sexuality reigned. The good people of St. Margaret’s gave me room to be myself without asking explicit questions, and I gave them room to be themselves: (at that time) a relatively conservative, but Jesus-loving parish of untapped potential. This resulted in a mostly joy-filled love affair during which the parish grew by leaps and bounds (St. Margaret’s is now one of the most exciting parishes in this diocese) and I grew profoundly in my knowledge and love of the Lord. The cost, however, was that my partner, Becki, was invisible as far as the parish was concerned, although we developed deep friendships among our different colleagues outside of St. Margaret’s.
In the Spring of 2001, the Canon to the Ordinary of the Diocese of Maryland accepted a call to a parish in Arizona, and I was among those who tested out whether or not God was calling me to work on a diocesan staff. Because the Bishop Diocesan, Bob Ihloff, wanted to make it clear that we were building a team ministry and I was to work with the Bishop Suffragan, John Rabb, as well, the title was changed to Canon to the Bishops. I was called, and after much laughter and countless tears as St. Margaret’s and I celebrated our time together, I began my new job on October 1, 2001.
For the first three years of my eight-year tenure (so far), I grieved the loss of being a Parish Rector, at St. Margaret’s in particular. In my heart, I believe there is a significant part of me that is and always will be a parish priest. I use that to remind myself of the kind of service a diocesan staff should try to provide for the diocese. So, for example, if I’m sending an “allclergy” e-mail, I try to imagine what it’s like to be sitting at my desk as Rector of a parish reading the e-mail. Is it clear? Does the Diocese know what it’s doing? I promote with the staff the fact that we are here to serve the Diocese, so that whenever we are receiving a phone call or e-mail we should be ready to help in whatever ways we can, and if we can’t, we should be able to refer people to someone who can.
I have come to love what I’m doing now with all its challenges and opportunities to learn. Since I have described many aspects of my current job in others parts of this application, I won’t repeat them here. The Diocese of Maryland has recently been through a search process, the election of our current Bishop: Eugene T. Sutton, his Consecration a year ago, followed rapidly by Lambeth and now, preparation for the upcoming General Convention in Anaheim. Eugene has asked me to stay on, amidst other staff changes, and this I’ve done, committed to the transition, and along with Bishop Rabb, trying to help Bishop Sutton be the best possible Bishop for Maryland God is calling him to be. Yet I find myself yearning for something new and different. In my spiritual life, I am experiencing a “holy unsettledness” - perhaps the stirrings of a new call?
When one of the clergy in our diocese asked if he could submit my name for Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles, I went to your web site, read the material, and thought: “Wow! This is exciting! I would love to explore this new possibility and discover what God is up to now.” With respect to the episcopal part of discerning this possibility, I would say two things. One is that functionally, I do many of the ministries our bishops do without having been elected. I travel all over the Diocese of Maryland visiting a different parish each Sunday to preach and celebrate the Eucharist and support individual clergy and the congregations committed to their charge in their own mission and ministry in Christ. I represent the bishops on a variety of different committees and commissions. I do Mutual Ministry Reviews, facilitate Vestry Retreats, lead spiritual retreats, and provide pastoral care for the clergy and their families. Obviously I do not have the same authority as a bishop - but that lack comes with the advantage of knowing that some people speak to me instead of either of the bishops precisely because they don’t want to speak to the bishops!
The second thing is simply to say that it’s time. It’s time for our wonderful church to move on and be the inclusive Church we say we are. I believe that the Diocese of Los Angeles is in alignment with the kairos – ready to move boldly into the future, with a strategic plan centered in the love of God and purposed with bringing God’s Reign of Justice and Love further into being, modeling for the whole Church an episcopal team. And maybe, just maybe, God is calling me to be a part of that exciting future.
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