Gayle Elizabeth Harris (born February 12, 1951) was ordained as
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
Suffragan of the
Episcopal 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, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...
that a woman was succeeded as bishop by another woman.
Early life and ministry
Harris was born on February 12, 1951, in
Cleveland, Ohio. She studied at the
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...
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 one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, ...
, from where she earned a
Master of Divinity. She was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Divinity by the
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, ...
in 2002, and an honorary Doctor of Humanity from the
New England Law Boston.
Harris was ordained as a deacon in February 1981 and as a priest in June 1982. She served as assistant to
Grace Church Van Vorst in
Jersey City, New Jersey, and as diocesan Urban Resident at St. Philip's Church in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, from 1982 to 1984. In 1984, she became priest-in-charge of Holy Communion Church in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, 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 Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
. She left Washington for
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
, 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 (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, by Bishop
Arthur Benjamin Williams Jr. She also serves as a member of the board of the
Old North Church
Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...
Foundation, as vice president of Episcopal City Mission, chairs the House of Bishops Pastoral Development Committee, and is the convenor of the Episcopal Bishops of African Descent.
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 ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
for bouncing a ball that fell among worshipers at the
Western Wall
The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
, 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 anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...
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 mur ...
'"
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."
See also
*
List of Episcopal bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops who currently lead dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States and its territories. Also included in the list are suffragan bishops, provisional bishops, coadjutor bishops, and assistant bishops ...
*
Historical list of the Episcopal bishops of the United States
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gayle Elizabeth
1951 births
Living people
Women Anglican bishops
Episcopal bishops of Massachusetts
African-American Episcopalians
American Episcopal priests
Religious leaders from Cleveland
Lewis & Clark College alumni
Church Divinity School of the Pacific alumni
20th-century American Episcopalians
20th-century African-American people