Bishop Elected to Head L.A. Episcopal Diocese

The Very Rev. Frederick H. Borsch, a New Testament scholar and writer of popular religious books, was elected Friday as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the fifth bishop in the 91-year history of the sprawling diocese.

Borsch, 52, whose candidacy was supported by leading pastors of the six-county diocese, won on the third ballot by obtaining a majority vote among clergy and lay electors who gathered for voting and prayer at the St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Central Los Angeles.

Reached by telephone at his home in Princeton, N.J., where he has been dean of the university chapel for seven years, Borsch said he was exhilarated by his election to one of the most prominent posts in the Episcopal Church. The Los Angeles diocese is the fifth largest in the country.

“To tell you the truth, I’m so excited I can’t put the words together,” he said at first, adding: “It’s quite unusual for someone to be elected as early as the third ballot. It helps me feel strengthened. It’s a vote of affirmation.”

Borsch said that when he takes up his new office in the spring, his first priorities will be to strengthen the education of the clergy, to help the church grow by reaching out to immigrants and to step up the church’s services to the poor.

“The mission of the church is to tell people about the hope and faith that one has discovered in one’s own life, in association with the Lord, and to be involved with helping other people who are in need, either those who want to find hope in their own life, or those in physical need of some kind,” he said.

Borsch was dean for nine years at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a theological seminary in Berkeley. He is the author of 12 books, including “Power in Weakness,” a popular collection of healing stories from the New Testament.

“He’s quiet, low key and very articulate,” said Suffragan (assistant) Bishop Oliver B. Garver Jr., who has been running the Los Angeles diocese since the death of the previous bishop, Robert C. Rusack, in July of 1986.

“He’s a man of prayer and scholarship and he’s been out here in the West long enough as dean in Berkeley to understand whatever idiosyncrasies we in California may have.”

Leader at Highest Levels

The Rev. George Regas, pastor of All Saints Church in Pasadena, the largest parish in the diocese, said: “I’d see him as being a great bishop. Fred Borsch has been a leader at the highest levels of our church and at every level he has proven his leadership capacity. And along with that comes a very great mind, and he’d also look after the clergy.”

Borsch will not be inaugurated for months because a majority of the bishops and standing committees of all 118 dioceses in the Episcopal Church nationwide also have to approve the choice. But that required endorsement is virtually assured, church officials said.

A total of six candidates were nominated for the post, which oversees church affairs for 80,000 baptized members from Santa Maria in the north to San Clemente in the south and Needles to the east. In addition to Borsch, three were from the East.

They were the Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson, 52, subdean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York; the Rev. Thomas F. Pike, 49, rector of the parish of Calvary, Holy Communion and St. George in New York, and the Rev. James A. Trimble, 56, rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia. The Rev. Charles E. Bennison Jr., rector of St. Mark’s Church in Upland, was nominated from the floor Friday.

A candidate chosen by the nominating committee, the Very Rev. Alan W. Jones, 47, dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, dropped out after visiting the diocese late last year.

Balloting and Hymns

The prayers and balloting were held at the Roman Catholic church because there is no Episcopal church big enough to hold the delegates, spouses and other church members eager to witness the rare event. The balloting alternated with hymns, psalm reading and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Rusack, who died at age 60 more than 16 months ago, was only the fourth bishop to head the Los Angeles diocese since it was founded in 1895.

The Episcopal Church is one of 28 national or regional churches in the Anglican Communion that recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as their spiritual leader.

Unlike the election of Episcopal bishops in the United States, bishops of the Church of England are appointed by the Queen of England on the recommendation of the prime minister.