Dear Friends,
We are very pleased to welcome Bishop Mary Glasspool to St. Bartholomew’s this Sunday. Bishop Glasspool will have a very full morning with us as she celebrates and preaches at the 9:00 am and 11:00 am services, teaches The Forum at 10:00 am and, after the morning services, meets with the Vestry over lunch. It is customary (and actually required by the canons) for bishops to pay regular visits to the parishes of their diocese and we look forward to Bishop Glasspool’s time with us.
The Right Reverend Glasspool came to the Episcopal Diocese of New York as Assistant Bishop in April,
2016. Previously she had served as Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles where she was elected in December 2009, and consecrated in May 2010. She was born on Staten Island, raised in Goshen, NY, where her father, Douglas Murray Glasspool, served as Rector of St. James’ Church until his death in 1989.
Bishop Glasspool graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Magna cum Laude from Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1976; earned her Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1981; was ordained a deacon in June 1981 by Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. of New York; and in March 1982 was ordained a priest by Bishop Lyman Ogilby of Pennsylvania.
From 1981 to 1984, she served as Assistant to the Rector, and later Interim Priest-in-Charge, of St. Paul’s Church, Philadelphia. She went from there to become Rector of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s Church, Boston, where she remained until 1992. She then moved to the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, first as Rector of St. Margaret’s Church in Annapolis (1992-2001) and then serving as Canon to the Bishops in the diocese. Bishop Glasspool has had a distinguished career in the church and is known for her prophetic ministry as an advocate for justice, equality, inclusion, and reconciliation. She and her spouse, Becki Sanders, have been together for 34 years.
Episcopal bishops visit parishes to officiate at Confirmation, Reception, and the Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows. Only a diocesan bishop can officiate at these liturgies and the bishop represents the connection each individual parish has with every other parish in the diocese. The bishop also serves as a point of connection each confirmand has with bishops in the apostolic succession; a line of continuity that symbolically goes back to the earliest apostles of the church.
Bishops visit their parishes to encourage, explore, listen, and to offer counsel and wisdom. We are very pleased to be welcoming Bishop Glasspool back to St. Bart’s and I know you will join me in offering her a very warm St. Bart’s welcome.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe
Rector
