Gayle Elizabeth Harris (born February 12, 1951) was ordained as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Diocese of Massachusetts in 2003, succeeding Barbara Harris (no relation). This was the first time in the

Episcopal Church in the United States The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

that a woman was succeeded as bishop by another woman.

Early life and ministry

Harris was born on February 12, 1951, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. She studied at the

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

and then at the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It is one of the nine seminaries in the Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the ...

, from where she earned a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

. She was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

by the

in 2002, and an honorary Doctor of Humanity from the

New England Law Boston New England Law Boston (formerly New England School of Law, and styled as New England Law Boston) is a Private university, private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School of Law in 1908 and is located in downtown B ...

. Harris was ordained as a deacon in June 1981 and as a priest in February 1982. She served as assistant to

Grace Church Van Vorst The Grace Church Van Vorst, is located in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1979. The church was built in 1853 and was named after the former Van ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, and as diocesan Urban Resident at St. Philip's Church in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, from 1982 to 1984. In 1984, she became priest-in-charge of Holy Communion Church in

, and simultaneously as a member of the clergy at

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...

. She left Washington for

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, in 1992, to become the rector of St. Luke and St, Simon Cyrene's Church, where she remained until 2002. She was elected Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts on June 1, 2002, and was consecrated on January 18, 2003, at Trinity Church,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, by Bishop Arthur Benjamin Williams Jr. She chairs the House of Bishops Pastoral Development Committee and is the convenor of the Episcopal Bishops of African Descent. In 2022, she retired as Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts. In April 2023, she became the Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia.

Accusations and apology

In 2018, Harris said that she personally saw Israeli security personnel arrest a 3-year-old on the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

for bouncing a ball that fell among worshipers at the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

, and also saw Israeli soldiers respond to a comment by a 15-year-old boy by shooting him 10 times in the back. Harris was accused by the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

and other Jewish organizations of fabricating "defamatory and incendiary" stories of "Israeli heartlessness and criminality" in support of an Episcopal Church General Convention resolution condemning Israel. The Simon Wiesenthal Center said that her "anti-Israel rhetoric borders on a '

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

'" Several weeks later, Harris apologized, stating that "I now acknowledge that I reported stories which I had heard and unintentionally framed them as though I had personally witnessed the alleged events." She added, "I did not take the opportunity to verify these stories. ... I was ill-advised to repeat the stories without verification, and I apologize for doing so."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gayle Elizabeth 1951 births Living people Women Anglican bishops Episcopal bishops of Massachusetts African-American Episcopalians Religious leaders from Cleveland Lewis & Clark College alumni Church Divinity School of the Pacific alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century African-American people

Early life and ministry

Accusations and apology

See also

References