The Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles since 2010, will begin a new ministry Dec. 1 as bishop provisional of the Diocese of West Missouri by action of its convention, meeting Nov. 6 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The vote adopted a resolution ratifying Bruce’s nomination, announced Aug. 3, by the Diocese of West Missouri’s Standing Committee.
A story from the Diocese of West Missouri is here.
In her new ministry, Bruce will oversee the Diocese of West Missouri – comprised of 9,000 Episcopalians in 47 congregations – for a period of two to three years until the diocese elects a bishop diocesan. Her tenure follows the Sept. 14 resignation (retirement) of West Missouri’s Bishop Diocesan Martin Scott Field.
Bruce will participate in the Nov. 13 convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles and give an address during the afternoon business session. In the days ahead she will formally resign the position of bishop suffragan of Los Angeles.
Upon Bruce’s nomination (coverage here), Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor said, “On behalf of the whole diocese, I offer congratulations and blessings to Bishop Bruce as she prepares for the next season of her ministry, serving and loving the people of our sibling diocese in West Missouri. Called to the diaconate and priesthood in our diocese, the first woman elected bishop in Los Angeles, Diane is forever one of us. Her contributions to our common life have been legion, especially in New Community ministry and stewardship. There is no denying that we will miss her greatly, especially her upbeat, loving spirit. And yet we trust in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. And we’re proud that her gifts and experience will now enliven mission and ministry in West Missouri.”
“It has been my distinct honor and privilege to serve as the seventh bishop suffragan here in the Diocese of Los Angeles these 11-plus years,” said Bruce, who joined Taylor and diocesan Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy in a leadership triad following the 2017 retirement of the late Bishop J. Jon Bruno.
“You may wonder why I am leaving now,” added Bruce, 65. “The answer is simple: an opportunity presented itself to me to exercise my gifts and skills in a new place in the few years I have left before I fully retire. I am excited to begin a new role as bishop provisional, which is a bishop diocesan but without tenure. Through prayerful discernment, it became very clear that West Missouri is a place where I am being called by the Spirit – and so I have said ‘yes!’
“I know the future of the Diocese of Los Angeles is in the best of hands,” Bruce said. “Please hold me and the Diocese of West Missouri in your prayers, as I will be praying for all of you.”
