Korean drums and gongs led the procession to celebrate the ordination and consecration of the Very Rev. J. Jon Bruno as Bishop Coadjutor of Los Angeles, April 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Guests had entered past a baptismal font surrounded by burning incense next to a paschal candle under a banner of Asian children's faces.

Parishioners of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul in Los Angeles, where Fr. Bruno had been provost since 1992, clergy, family and friends filled the 3,500 seats. All had been encouraged to wear red, the festival color. Children were not only enthusiastically invited but also were included in the service as readers and choir members. Several children, including Fr. Bruno's eldest grandson, were participants in the Eucharist.

The Diocese of Los Angeles spans six counties, with 85,000 Episcopalians in 147 congregations. Its diversity was celebrated in Spanish, Japanese, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean - in readings, in the music and in the entertainment following the service.

The Rt. Rev. Richard Shimpfky, Bishop of El Camino Real, was chief consecrator. The Rt. Rev. Frederick Borsch, Bishop of Los Angeles, and the Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton, Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles, were among bishops from North and Central America who participated. The other co-consecrators were the Rt. Rev. Edmond L. Browning, retired Presiding Bishop; the Rt. Rev. George West Barrett, bishop assisting in Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Martin J. Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador; the Rt. Rev. Ann Tottenham, Bishop Suffragan of Credit Valley, Canada; the Rt. Rev. Robert M. Anderson, retired Bishop of Minnesota; the Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop Suffragan of Dallas; and the Rt. Rev. William D. Persell, Bishop of Chicago.

The Rev. Mitties McDonald DeChamplain, professor of homiletics at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, and a friend of Bishop Bruno, gave the homily.

Bishop Bruno will succeed Bishop Borsch as diocesan bishop. Bishop Borsch has not announced a date for retirement.

Bishop Bruno's 22-year priesthood has been exercised mostly in the Echo Park District of Los Angeles. His interests have centered on prayer and pastoral outreach. His time has been given to many efforts on behalf of young people and immigrants, with particular concern for affordable housing, fair wages and urban schools.