Episcopal Diocese of California

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Seal of the Diocese of California

Location of the Diocese of California

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 current bishop of the Diocese, its eighth, is the Right Reverend Marc Handley Andrus, formerly Suffragan Bishop of Alabama, who was invested with the office on July 22, 2006, succeeding the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing.

[edit] History

[edit] Bishops of the Diocese of California

• William Ingraham Kip Missionary Bishop(1853 - 1856), Bishop (1857-1893)
• William Ford Nichols (1893 - 1924)
• Edward Lambe Parsons (1924 - 1940)
• Karl Morgan Block (1941 - 1958)
• James Pike (1958 - 1966)
• Chauncie Kilmer Myers (1967 - 1979)
• William Edwin Swing (1979 - 2006)
• Marc Handley Andrus (current)

[edit] Suffragan Bishops of the Diocese

• Henry Herbert Shires (1951 - 1958)
• George Richard Millard (1960 - 1978)

[edit] Bishop Succession Controversy

In October 2004 Bishop 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 of Bishop Swing. Among the seven finalists were three homosexuals; a lesbian and two gay men in long term relationships with their partners.

Normally, the election of a bishop is a local affair in which a bishop is elected with little fanfare and later confirmed by the General Convention of the ECUSA. But with the inclusion of three homosexual candidates and 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 within the ECUSA and in the Anglican Communion[1].

The Right Reverend Marc Handley Andrus, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama was elected on the third ballot with the gay candidates receiving only a few votes[2]. 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.

[edit] Affliated Schools

The diocese operates The Episcopal School for Deacons as a college for training Deacons. The school is located on the grounds of Church Divinity School of the Pacific

[edit] References

1. The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus elected Eighth Bishop of California Sean McConnell, Episcopal Diocese of California, May 6th, 2006
2. California diocese elects Marc Andrus as bishop Episcopal News Service, May 7, 2006
3. Episcopalians avoid rift in picking bishop; Many had expected gay leader San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 2006
4. Bishop vote avoids gay clergy row BBC News, May 6, 2006
5. Calif. Episcopalians Elect New Bishop Washington Post, May 6, 2006
6. Home Page of the Episcopal Diocese of California

[edit] External links

• Episcopal Diocese of California website

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