The last time the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin ordained and consecrated a bishop its people had elected, it was 1988, and Ronald Reagan was president. It has taken that long for this hearty community of Episcopalians in the United States’ breadbasket, the Central Valley, to find its way back to the wholeness of their sacred table.
Once considered one of the most conservative dioceses in The Episcopal Church, its leaders opposed the ordination of women and marriage equity. In 2007, Bishop John-David Schofield, a majority of annual convention delegates, and ultimately most of the diocese’s communicants left to join what became known as the Anglican Church in North America.
A loyal remnant of Episcopalians remained as litigation ensued over who would keep which buildings. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has similar traumatic memories. The diocese turned to a series of able, wise bishops provisional: Jerry Lamb, who now lives in our diocese; the late Chet Talton, a former LA bishop suffragan; and David Rice, previously a bishop in New Zealand who was eventually named bishop diocesan. He stressed immigration justice, education about human trafficking, and creation care, urging parishes and missions to install solar power. All that patient healing work set the stage for the election in October, as San Joaquin’s sixth bishop, of Greg Kimura, rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in South Pasadena.
On Saturday at St. James Cathedral in Fresno, Greg was ordained and consecrated in a glorious service featuring Aztec dancers and a bilingual sermon by our own the Rev. Canon Anthony Guillen that beautifully twinned Greg’s pastoral and prophetic gifts with the diocese’s history. Our presiding bishop, Sean Rowe, presided. I was honored that Greg invited me to be one of five co-consecrating bishops.
A native Alaskan and fourth generation Japanese American, Greg, who has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, served as president and CEO of LA’s prestigious Japanese American National Museum, where he attracted international attention for mounting a special Hello, Kitty exhibit. Sculptor Nicole Maloney, who created the Oomo Cube in front of the museum, sat in the first pew, near Greg’s spouse and daughter, Joy and Lily. A high school junior, Lily read the epistle in fluent Spanish. Greg has a strong justice heart. As co-convener of our Sacred Resistance ministry, he organized a pilgrimage last year, in which I participated, to help our diocese get to know some of the nonprofits in Tijuana assisting families victimized by Trump’s cruel, racist immigration policies.
In a breakfast meeting before the ceremony, the presiding bishop brought bishops up to date on church-wide issues and took our questions. His chaplain, the Rev. Molly Field James, oversaw the careful process of helping bishops sink their rings, bearing our diocesan seals, into hot wax she had affixed to Greg’s ordination certificates. The trick is to lick your ring, drop it into the wax from about an inch high, and count to ten. It’s not something you want to mess up.
My colleague Bishop Ed Little, who was rector in Bakersfield before the schism, was aboard with his spouse, Claudia. It was great to see San Joaquin friends I’ve made over the years, including one of the litanists, the Rev. Tom Hampson, recently retired as deacon in Lodi, and the Rev. Stephen Bentley, who has roots at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Altadena. Tom’s former rector, the Rev. Betsy McElroy, kept the service on track beautifully as master of ceremonies. Our own bishop-elect, the Rev. Dr. Antonio Jose Antonio Lucena, preparing for his own July 11 consecration at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, was along, as was the Rev. Dr. Rachel Nyback and my future bishop, Susan Brown Snook of San Diego.
As Bishop David prepared for his last official act, handing Greg his crozier, I sought his advice about retirement. He and his spouse, Tracy, a marriage and family therapist, who is also retiring, will start out by seeing a lot of family and keeping a low profile. Sounds about right! Kathy and I won’t be able to follow their lead when it comes to housing. Their New Zealand home is the previous building of a congregation he once served as vicar.
