Kay Goldsworthy elected Bishop of Gippsland

The Diocese of Gippsland has elected the second female diocesan bishop for the Anglican Church of Australia. The Rt. Rev. Kay Goldsworthy, Assistant Bishop of Perth, was elected bishop of the Victoria diocese by the diocesan electoral committee on 13 Dec 2014. In 1992 Bishop Goldsworthy was ordained as one of the first female priests in Australia. In 2007 she began work at the Perth Diocesan Office as the Archdeacon of Perth and Registrar of the Diocese. In 2008, she became the first woman consecrated as a bishop in Australia. A member of the liberal wing of the Australian Church, at the 2013 Perth diocesan synod she voted in favor of a motion calling for the institution of same-sex blessings. The metropolitan of Victoria, Archbishop Philip Freier of Melbourne is an opponent of changes in the church’s teaching on same-sex marriage and it is unlikely the diocese will go forward with the innovation at this time.