The Diocese of Los Angeles elected the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce suffragan bishop of the diocese in the first of two elections taking place in that diocese this weekend. Bruce is the first woman elected a bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles pending the required consents.
Episcopal News Service reports:
Bruce, 53, rector for nine years of St. Clements by-the-Sea Church in San Clemente, California, in the Los Angeles diocese, was elected on the third ballot.
She was elected in the first of two elections for bishops suffragan planned during “Faith and Our Future,” the 114th annual diocesan convention held Dec. 4-5 at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, California.
Bruce received 134 clergy votes and 237 votes from the laity. The ballot required 132 votes in the clergy order and 202 in the lay order. The results of all the ballots are available here. Bruce was elected from a field of six candidates, three of whom were from the Los Angeles diocese. Two candidates were openly gay.
“I am humbled and honored,” said Bruce, a native of Pequannock, New Jersey.
“Diane is a skilled pastor and a proven leader,” said Los Angeles diocesan Bishop Jon Bruno. “Her gifts and expertise are major assets in this diocese and the wider church and I am delighted with the opportunity for us to continue to serve together in new ways.”
The Diocese now goes about balloting for the second suffragan bishop from the remaining slate of five candidates.