{"id":268275,"date":"2026-04-15T01:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268275\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:36:24","slug":"presiding-bishop-of-the-episcopal-church-to-visit-fresno-for-historic-consecration-of-san-joaquin-valley-bishop-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268275\/","title":{"rendered":"Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church to Visit Fresno for Historic Consecration of San Joaquin Valley Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t \"\"<\/a>Gregory Kimura\t\t\t \t\t\t <\/p>\n

The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will travel to Fresno on\u00a0April 18\u00a0to consecrate the Rev. Dr. Gregory W. Kimura as the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin during a ceremony at\u00a010 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Cathedral.<\/p>\n

The consecration marks the\u00a0first episcopal consecration in the Diocese of San Joaquin since 1988, making it a historic moment for the diocese and its congregations throughout California\u2019s Central Valley and High Desert.<\/p>\n

Kimura will succeed\u00a0The Rt. Rev. David C. Rice, who served as diocesan bishop for twelve years.<\/p>\n

As bishop, Kimura will serve as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, which includes 19 congregations and ministries across the Central Valley, stretching from Lodi and Stockton in the north to Bakersfield and Ridgecrest in the south, and the Episcopal Conference Center Oakhurst (ECCO), with diocesan offices and the cathedral located in Fresno.<\/p>\n

A fourth-generation Alaskan, Kimura has served Episcopal and Lutheran congregations in Alaska and California. Most recently he has been rector of St. James\u2019 Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, and previously served as\u00a0President and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward with enthusiasm and humility to serving Christ and the people of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin,\u201d Kimura said. \u201cThe Episcopal Church welcomes everyone with a message of God\u2019s love for all people in the wonderful diversity God has created.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consecration will be led by\u00a0The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. As presiding bishop, Rowe serves as the chief pastor and primate of the Episcopal Church, which includes\u00a0106 dioceses in 22 countries and territories\u00a0and is part of the worldwide\u00a0Anglican Communion, one of the largest Christian traditions in the world.<\/p>\n

His visit to Fresno highlights the significance of the moment for the Diocese of San Joaquin, which has experienced a period of renewal and rebuilding in recent years. The upcoming consecration represents another important step in the continued life and growth of the diocese.<\/p>\n

The consecration service will include a\u00a0traditional procession of bishops and clergy from across the country in ceremonial vestments and the historic \u201claying on of hands,\u201d\u00a0when bishops gather around the bishop-elect in prayer \u2014 a moment that marks the formal beginning of a bishop\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n

The service is expected to draw clergy and church leaders from across the United States.<\/p>\n

Seating for the ceremony is limited. A livestream of the ordination and consecration will appear on the Diocesan YouTube page. More information and the livestream link are available at: www.diosanjoaquin.org\/consecration<\/a><\/p>\n

Media Opportunities<\/p>\n

Members of the media are invited to attend the consecration.<\/p>\n

Interview opportunities may be available with:<\/p>\n

Bishop-elect Gregory Kimura<\/p>\n

Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe<\/p>\n

Media are encouraged to contact the diocese in advance to arrange interviews.<\/p>\n

About the Episcopal Diocese of San\u00a0Joaquin
The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin serves congregations across California\u2019s Central Valley and includes 19 congregations and ministries as well as the Episcopal Conference Center in Oakhurst. The diocesan cathedral and offices are located at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Fresno.<\/p>\n

The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and has a continuous presence in the United States dating to the American Revolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gregory Kimura The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will travel to Fresno…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[116944,112,114,113],"class_list":["post-268275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-episcopal-church-of-the-usa","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}