Beloved in Christ,
I have some exciting news to share with you! In November, the 2025 Diocesan Convention voted to support my appointing assisting bishops for our diocese — retired bishops who can expand my episcopal presence on a part-time basis for the next year and beyond. I am now excited to share that I have called the Right Reverend Ian T. Douglas and the Right Reverend Mary D. Glasspool to serve in this capacity. They will be joining our diocese effective February 1.
Both bishops have strong ties to our diocese. Before his election as Bishop Diocesan in Connecticut in 2010, Bishop Douglas was on the faculty at Episcopal Divinity School and served at St. James’s in Cambridge. He is the Vice Chair of the Board of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice. Bishop Glasspool received her MDiv at Episcopal Divinity School in 1981 and served as rector at St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s in Allston-Brighton from 1984-1992. After nine years as rector of St. Margaret's Church in Annapolis, she then served as Canon to the Bishops in the Diocese of Maryland before her election as Bishop Suffragan in Los Angeles. She later served as Assistant Bishop in New York. More comprehensive biographies are below.
They will both help with parish visitations and other episcopal liturgies. Additionally, we will draw on their unique expertise to advise and lead in specific areas of ministry. Bishop Glasspool will assist in providing pastoral care to both retired and active clergy and support our gender justice efforts. Bishop Douglas will support our global mission engagement and provide training in canon law and polity.
I am very grateful to be joined by these two wonderful bishops, who are quickly becoming trusted friends and colleagues. They are looking forward to getting to know you!
Bishop Ian shared, "I am overjoyed to be returning to ministry in the Diocese of Massachusetts and am very thankful to Bishop Julia for inviting me to serve as Assisting Bishop. I very much look forward to working alongside Bishop Julia and Bishop Mary as we join the good people of Massachusetts serving God's mission in Eastern Massachusetts and the Cape and Islands."
Bishop Mary writes, “I am very excited about serving people in the Diocese of Massachusetts with the gifts and skills I have to offer and am deeply grateful to Bishop Julia, whose hard work and creativity in building teams shines through. I look forward to working with Bishop Julia, Bishop Ian, and, of course, the laity and clergy of the Diocese as together we strive to bring forward God’s Reign of love and justice on this earth. It is always a privilege.”
Bishop Ian and Bishop Mary will begin parish visitations in February. I hope you will join me in welcoming them to our diocesan family!
With and in love,
The Rt. Rev'd Julia E. Whitworth
Bishop Diocesan
Meet the Bishops
Bishop Ian T. Douglas
The Rt. Rev’d Ian T. Douglas, Ph.D., served as the 15th Bishop Diocesan of The Episcopal Church in Connecticut from February 2010 until 2022. From 1989 to 2010, he was a faculty member at the Episcopal Divinity School, then located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was the Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity. In the Diocese of Massachusetts, Douglas served as Priest Associate at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge from 1989-2010, four-time Deputy to General Convention, and member of the Commission on Ministry. At the wider Episcopal Church level, he has been a member of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, Chair of the Standing Commission on World Mission, Convener of the Episcopal Seminary Consultation on Mission, and a founder of both Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and Bishops United Against Gun Violence. He is currently Vice Chair of the Board of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice. In the Anglican Communion, Douglas has been a member of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion. He has also served on the Design Group for the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops, and a member of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Evangelism. A sought-after speaker nationally and internationally, Douglas is the author/editor of five books and numerous academic and popular articles on the topics of mission, the missional church, postcolonial Anglicanism, and world Christianity. He has studied at Middlebury College (B.A.), the Harvard University Graduate School of Education (Ed.M.), and Harvard Divinity School (M.Div.). He holds a Ph.D. in missiology from Boston University. He lives on Martha’s Vineyard with his spouse, Kristin Harris, where they work as farm hands on their daughter’s pork and beef farm.
Bishop Mary D. Glasspool
The Rt. Rev’d Mary D. Glasspool served the Diocese of New York as Bishop Assistant from April 2016 until her retirement on June 30, 2025. Previously, she had been Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles (elected December 2009, consecrated May 2010). She was born on Staten Island, raised in Goshen, NY, where her father, Douglas Murray Glasspool, served as rector of St. James’ Church until his death in 1989, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Magna cum Laude from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, in 1976. Bishop Mary earned her Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, in 1981; was ordained a deacon in June 1981 by Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. of New York; and in March 1982 was ordained a priest by Bishop Lyman Ogilby of Pennsylvania. From 1981 to 1984, she served as assistant to the rector and later as interim priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Church, Philadelphia, and later moved to be rector of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s Church, Boston, where she remained until 1992. She then moved to the Diocese of Maryland, first as rector of St. Margaret’s Church in Annapolis (1992-2001) and then, until her election in 2009 as Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles, as Canon to the Bishops in the Diocese of Maryland.
