"Mary's qualifications were never at issue," said the Very Rev. Brian Baker, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento and co-convener of the Chicago Consultation. "This has always been a question of whether our Church had the courage of its convictions. We are delighted to find out that it has."

Glasspool and the Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce will be consecrated as suffragan bishops on May 15. Both were elected in early December and had previously received the necessary consents from diocesan Standing Committees.  Glasspool, who lives with her partner, will become the first openly lesbian bishop in the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion.

"We salute the people of the Diocese of Los Angeles who were wise enough to elect Mary, the leadership of Bishop J. Jon Bruno, who worked hard to get her confirmed, and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which passed the legislation that made this great day possible," Baker said.  "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that the arc of history is long, but that it bends toward justice. Today, more than most days, we can see that he was right."

The Chicago Consultation, a group of Episcopal and Anglican bishops, clergy and lay people, supports the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion. To learn more about the Chicago Consultation, visit www.chicagoconsultation.org.