Elected bishop coadjutor in 1999 at age 51, J. Jon Bruno had since 1986 served as rector of St. Athanasius, Echo Park, and from 1992 as provost of the Cathedral Center. Before ordination in Los Angeles, he was a Burbank police officer and had pursued a career in professional football. A graduate of Cal-State L.A. and the Virginia Seminary, he became the first native-born Angeleno to serve as bishop diocesan. Bishop Bruno and his wife, Mary – parents of three children – resided in Pasadena and were leaders in HIV/AIDS ministries and advocates for full LGBTQ+ inclusion and marriage equality. Following the New Hampshire election of Gene Robinson as The Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, a majority of members of four parishes of the Diocese of Los Angeles voted in 2004 to disaffiliate from the denomination and sought to retain church properties. After three years of vigilant legal action led by Bishop Bruno, the California Supreme Court in 2009 ruled that the four properties were held in trust by the diocese for the ministry of The Episcopal Church, establishing key precedent for similar cases in other regions of the state and nation. Two of the four Episcopal congregations were successfully restarted amid this difficult period of diocesan life, which included a Title IV disciplinary ruling against Bishop Bruno for his action to sell church property in Newport Beach. An advocate for Middle East peace with justice, Bishop Bruno established the companion relationship that L.A. continues to share with the Diocese of Jerusalem. Dedicated to interfaith solidarity, Bishop Bruno served two terms as president of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders. Having chosen the theme “Hands in Healing” for his episcopate, Bishop Bruno led 14 young adults on a 2002 nationwide pilgrimage seeking an end to violence in all forms. He was assisted in local ministry by Bishop Talton, assistant bishops Robert M. Anderson and Sergio Carranza, and the diocese’s first women to be elected bishops suffragan, Diane M. Jardine Bruce and Mary Douglas Glasspool. A survivor of acute monostatic leukemia, Bishop Bruno established the diocesan Seeds of Hope ministry to provide food security and nutrition education. Bishop Bruno retired in 2017. He died in 2021 at home in La Quinta, California, at age 74, and his ashes are interred in Lazarus Chapel at St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park.
