Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Update on consent process

Just received via email:

L.A. Diocese receives majority of Standing Committee consents to elections of two bishops suffragan

[The Episcopal News - Los Angeles, March 10, 2010] The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Los Angeles has received the necessary majority of Standing Committee consents to the December 2009 elections of the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce and the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool as bishops suffragan to serve the six-county Los Angeles diocese.

The Los Angeles Standing Committee reported March 10 that within the last 64 days it has received 61 consents needed to the election of Glasspool, and 78 consents to the election of Bruce. In each election a majority of 56 consents was needed from the counterpart Standing Committees of the 110 dioceses of the Episcopal Church.

The consent process to Glasspool's election is not complete until the Presiding Bishop's Office in New York confirms that it has received the necessary majority of consents from bishops with jurisdiction in the dioceses of the Church. Meanwhile, the Presiding Bishop's Office has notified the Los Angeles Standing Committee that 58 of the 61 Standing Committee consents received have been verified to date.

Completion of the consent process in Bruce's election was confirmed with a March 8 announcement from the Presiding Bishop's Office.

"I give thanks for the Standing Commitees' prompt action, and for the consents to the elections of my sisters," Los Angeles Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno said on March 10. "I look forward to the final few consents to come in from the bishops in the next few days, and I give thanks for the fact that we as a church have taken a bold step for just action."

Public comment from Bruce, who is rector of St. Clement's by-the-Sea, San Clemente, Calif, and Glasspool, canon to the bishops of the Diocese of Maryland, will follow completion of the consent process to Glasspool's election.

The Los Angeles Standing Committee, led by its president, the Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees, launched the 120-day consent process on Jan. 5 for Glasspool and on Jan. 8 for Bruce following action by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to request consent to the elections from bishops with jurisdiction across the Episcopal Church. The consent processes conclude May 5 and 8 respectively.
Canon III.11.4 (a) of the Episcopal Church requires that a majority of diocesan bishops and a majority of diocesan standing committees must consent to each episcopal election.

These separate actions must be completed within 120 days from the day after notice of the election was sent to designated recipients, and each bishop-elect must receive a majority of consents from the diocesan bishops as well as a majority from the standing committees in order for ordination to proceed.

If a majority is not received and verified from the bishops and/or the Standing Committees, the Presiding Bishop is required by Canon III.11.5 to declare that election null and void.

Pending completion of the consent process, the ordination and consecration of the two new bishops is scheduled for Saturday, May 15, at the Long Beach Arena. An opening celebration will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the liturgy itself beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Presiding Bishop is scheduled to officiate.

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