- Episcopal Diocese of California
-
Bishop of California Bishopric Anglican 
Incumbent:
Marc Handley Andrus
Province: VIII Diocese: California Cathedral: Grace Cathedral, San Francisco First Bishop: 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 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.
Contents
History
Diocesan bishops
- 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 (2006-present)
Suffragan and assistant bishops
- Henry Herbert Shires (suffragan, 1951 - 1958)
- George Richard Millard (suffragan, 1960 - 1978)
- Steven Charleston (assistant, 2008 - 2009, resigned[2])
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 Bishop Swing. 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[3].
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.[1] 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.
References
- Bishop Steven Charleston announces transition Episcopal Diocese of California, October 12, 2009
- The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus elected Eighth Bishop of California Sean McConnell, Episcopal Diocese of California, May 6, 2006
- California diocese elects Marc Andrus as bishop Episcopal News Service, May 7, 2006
- Episcopalians avoid rift in picking bishop; Many had expected gay leader San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 2006
- Bishop vote avoids gay clergy row BBC News, May 6, 2006
- Calif. Episcopalians Elect New Bishop Washington Post, May 6, 2006
- Home Page of the Episcopal Diocese of California
External links
Categories:- Episcopal dioceses of the United States
- Christianity in California
- Episcopal churches in California
- Religious organizations established in 1853
- Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century
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