4 Priests Entered in Episcopal Election

Four Episcopal priests, including two Los Angeles clerics, were named this week as candidates for bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

A Nov. 13 election by clergy and lay delegates will determine which of the four candidates will serve with and eventually succeed the current bishop, the Rev. Frederick H. Borsch. The newly elected bishop will first serve as one of the area bishops of the diocese, which covers Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The candidates are the Rev. Gary R. Hall of All Saints Church in Pasadena, the Rev. Kirk S. Smith of St. James Church in Los Angeles, the Rev. Herbert G. Draesel Jr. of the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York, and the Rev. Ralph T. Blackman of St. Andrew’s Church in Tacoma, Wash.

Earlier this year, a 23-member search committee began the process of selecting nominees from about 70 prospective candidates. Though the search committee has selected its candidates, diocesan canons also allow for nomination of additional candidates from the floor of the Nov. 13 convention.

The election, a gathering of more than 1,000 clergy and lay delegates representing the 148 congregations of the diocese, will be held at St. Vincent’s Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles. The church is being made available because no Episcopal church in Southern California is large enough to accommodate the convention.

SI Margaret Ramirez