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While the Church of England is riven by the matters of lesbian and gay clergy and women bishops, a US church is close to appointing a lesbian bishop.

The Episcopal Church in Los Angeles looks set to approve the consecration of Canon Mary Glasspool, meaning that she will be ordained on 5 May, becoming the church’s second out gay bishop.

She was appointed to be an assistant bishop of the diocese of Los Angeles at the end of 2009 and, according to the rules of the church, needed the approval of the majority of all church representatives, including bishops, clerical and lay members. So far she has received 29 votes and requires a total of 56.

The Episcopal Church is a liberal branch of the Church of England and her ordaining seems likely to cause further division among its different branches. The appointment of its first gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003 caused a huge schism in the wider Anglican community. When Glasspool was appointed in December, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said: “The election of Mary Glasspool by the Diocese of Los Angeles as suffragan bishop-elect raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion but for the Communion as a whole.”

Observers believe that the Dr Williams, who before was relatively liberal on lesbian and gay rights, has been taking a harder line in an attempt to increase church unity.

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