Bishop’s Office

The Rt. Rev. John H. Taylor began ministry as seventh bishop of the six-county Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on Dec. 1, 2017. He was elected bishop coadjutor on the eighth ballot on Dec. 3, 2016 at the 121st annual meeting of the diocese at the Ontario Convention Center. He was ordained to the episcopate on July 8, 2017 at a service at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles County Music Center, with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as chief consecrator.

Before his election, Taylor served as vicar of St. John Chrysostom Church and School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, beginning in 2004.

“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 in Yorba Linda, Calif.

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 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, in addition to numerous newspaper and magazine articles and a blog, “The Episconixonian.”

Taylor married Kathleen Hannigan O’Connor in 2002. He has two daughters, Valerie and Lindsay; two stepchildren, Daniel and Meaghan; and two grandchildren.

A profile of Taylor from the Winter 2017 issue of The Episcopal News is here.

The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Los Angeles today encompasses 65,000 Episcopalians in some 135 congregations and ministry centers located in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Served by some 400 clergy, the Diocese also includes some 40 Episcopal schools and 10 social service and chaplaincy institutions.

The Bishop’s Staff