Episcopal Diocese of California
Encyclopedia
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. The founding Episcopal diocese in the state, once encompassing all of California, today the diocese comprises Alameda
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
, Contra Costa
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
, Marin
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, and San Mateo
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
Counties, and the cities of Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
and part of Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
in Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
, in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. The see city is San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and the diocesan cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
is Grace Cathedral on top of Nob Hill
Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
Nob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
.
The eighth and current Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of California is the Right Reverend Marc Handley Andrus
Marc Handley Andrus
Marc Handley Andrus is the Eighth Bishop of California in The Episcopal Church. He was elected after three ballots in a special convention at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on May 6, 2006, and was invested as Bishop of California on July 22, 2006...
, formerly Suffragan Bishop of Alabama
Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of The Episcopal Church and serves the State of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast....
, who was invested with the office on July 22, 2006, succeeding the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing.
Diocesan bishops
- William Ingraham KipWilliam Ingraham KipWilliam Ingraham Kip was an American Protestant Episcopal bishop.-Early life:Kip was born in New York City, of Breton ancestry, the son of Leonard Kip and Maria Kip. He graduated at Yale in 1831. After briefly studying law, Kip turned to a clerical calling and graduated from the General...
Missionary Bishop (1853 - 1856), Bishop (1857-1893) - William Ford Nichols (1893 - 1924)
- Edward Lambe Parsons (1924 - 1940)
- Karl Morgan Block (1941 - 1958)
- James PikeJames PikeJames Albert Pike was an American Episcopal bishop, prolific writer, and one of the first mainline religious figures to appear regularly on television....
(1958 - 1966) - Chauncie Kilmer Myers (1967 - 1979)
- William Edwin Swing (1979 - 2006)
- Marc Handley AndrusMarc Handley AndrusMarc Handley Andrus is the Eighth Bishop of California in The Episcopal Church. He was elected after three ballots in a special convention at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on May 6, 2006, and was invested as Bishop of California on July 22, 2006...
(2006-present)
Suffragan and assistant bishops
- Henry Herbert Shires (suffraganSuffragan bishopA suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
, 1951 - 1958) - George Richard Millard (suffragan, 1960 - 1978)
- Steven Charleston (assistant, 2008 - 2009, resignedhttp://www.episcopalbayarea.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=486&Itemid=215)
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
General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
, 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
Gene Robinson
Vicki Gene Robinson is the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Robinson was elected bishop in 2003 and entered office in March 2004...
as the Bishop of New Hampshire
Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire
The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America , covers the entire state of New Hampshire. It was originally part of the Diocese of Massachusetts, but became independent in 1841. The see city is Concord...
, this election became widely watched by many in the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
. Some feared that the elevation of a second gay bishop would cause a schism
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
between the ECUSA and the rest of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/07/BAG1SIN2LH1.DTL.
The Right Reverend Marc Handley Andrus, Suffragan Bishop
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
of Alabama
Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of The Episcopal Church and serves the State of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast....
was elected on the third ballot with the gay candidates receiving only a few votes. 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 PacificChurch Divinity School of the Pacific
Church Divinity School of the Pacific is one of the eleven seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is located in Berkeley, California, and is a member of the Graduate Theological Union...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, two blocks to the north of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.