The Rev. John Taylor was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Los Angeles on the eighth ballot Dec. 3 by delegates gathered for the 121st annual meeting of the diocese at the Ontario Convention Center.
Taylor, 62, has served as vicar of St. John Chrysostom Church and School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, since 2004. He was elected by 122 votes in the clergy order and 194 votes in the lay order.
The election culminated a nearly two-year search process. Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno announced during his address to convention that he will retire at the beginning of Diocesan Convention 2017.
The other five nominees were:
* The Rev. Paul Fromberg, rector, St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco, California;
* The Rev. Rachel Nyback, rector, St. Cross by the Sea, Hermosa Beach, California;
* The Rev. Anna Olson, rector, St. Mary’s, Los Angeles;
* The Rt. Rev. Pierre W. Whalon, Bishop-in-Charge and Suffragan to the Presiding Bishop, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe;
* The Rev. Mauricio Wilson, rector, St. Paul’s Church, Oakland
Additional information about the candidates may be found here.
“To our divided nation, to those living in fear and uncertainty, to anyone yearning for a rich relationship with the God in Christ who loves everyone without reservation, The Episcopal Church throws its arms open,” Taylor said after the election was announced. “In our diverse, far-flung diocese, we are united in our baptismal pledge to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being, especially those who are most vulnerable. I look forward with joy to serving alongside my fellow ministers — laypeople, deacons, priests and bishops — as we continue to proclaim the gospel in word and deed.”
A lifelong Episcopalian, Taylor was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954, the son of journalists and formerly served as chief of staff to former President Richard M. Nixon and later as the executive director of the Nixon Library.
He received a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of California, San Diego, and a master of divinity at the Claremont School of Theology and Bloy House. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
He was ordained a priest in January 2004 and also served as curate at the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in Fullerton.
The Diocese of Los Angeles “groans with the potential for growth through mission and ministry to those in our communities who do not know our church but whom our God in Christ commands us to reach, embrace, empower and serve,” Taylor has said.
His is a “via media” leadership style — listening to his own instincts in consultation with others. “I listen to all stakeholders to learn from them,” he has said. “If they’ve been heard, they’ll be more likely to affirm my decision even if they don’t agree with it.”
Taylor has written two novels, Patterns of Abuse and Jackson Place, numerous newspaper and magazine articles and a blog, The Episconixonian.
Taylor married Kathleen Hannigan O’Connor in 2002 (pictured together above); he has two daughters, Valerie and Lindsay, and two stepchildren, Daniel and Meaghan.
The Diocese of Los Angeles encompasses some 70,000 Episcopalians in 136 neighborhood congregations and mission centers, some 40 schools and 15 other specialized service institutions located in six California counties. Los Angeles historically is one of the five most populous and culturally diverse of the Episcopal Church’s 109 dioceses.
Pending the canonically required consent of a majority of the Episcopal Church’s diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction, Taylor will be ordained and consecrated as bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Los Angeles on July 8, 2017 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center in Los Angeles.