Utah's next bishop could be gay priest

By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
04/09/2010

Utah could become only the third Episcopal diocese with an openly gay bishop.

The Rev. Michael L. Barlowe -- who married his partner, the Rev. Paul Burrows, in San Francisco in 2008, just before the fractious Proposition 8 vote banning gay marriage -- is one of four finalists to replace retiring Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish.

Reflecting the Utah diocese's diversity, the other three candidates are: the Rev. Juan A. Quevedo-Bosch, a Cuban-born rector in New York; the Rev. Mary C. Sulerud, who helps train new priests in Washington, D.C.; and the Rev. Scott B. Hayashi, who once pastored a church in Ogden but now ministers in Chicago.

"What is unique about all four of these candidates is that they have worked within diocesan offices as well as in parish ministry," said Ric Tanner, president of the Utah church's Standing Committee, which advises the bishop. "It is a little unusual but marvelous." the rest