James Edwin Bacon Jr. (born February 14, 1948), known as Ed Bacon, is a retired priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and was the rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena, 1995–2016. Prior to coming to All Saints Church, Bacon served as dean of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Jackson, Mississippi; Rector of St Mark’s in Dalton, Georgia; and dean of students and campus ministry at Mercer University. He also graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. As an ordained priest , he was known for his active support of LGBT rights, peace, and interfaith causes. He retired to private life on May 1, 2016.
Early life
Born in Jesup, Georgia, (February 14, 1948), Bacon is the son of a Baptist minister who was also the Superintendent of the Wayne County Schools. He grew up in a politically and theologically conservative environment, and, at the urging of his father, he attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia with the intent of becoming a physician. It was at Mercer where Bacon’s viewpoint of “inclusive compassion and justice for everyone” gradually developed.
In 1967, while a student at Mercer, Bacon had a chance encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the baggage claim in the Atlanta airport. That chance meeting inspired Bacon, who was already familiar with Dr. King’s writings, to reread the Bible through a new lens. It was then that Bacon realized the Bible’s focus was not about tribalism and separation, but rather it was about overcoming fear-based tribalism and separation with inclusion and universal compassion.
After graduating from Mercer in 1969, Bacon attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, for three semesters. While there, he was introduced to the writings of Thomas Merton, a twentieth-century Catholic priest and monk who wrote about the true self versus the false self. Merton’s writings resonated with Bacon and helped him realize that a career in law was not his calling. Since dropping out of law school would invalidate his protected delay status for the Vietnam War draft, Bacon, who was morally opposed to the war, applied for conscientious objector status and was discharged after serving alternative service teaching children with learning delays.
After leaving law school, Bacon returned to Mercer and became the school’s campus minister and dean of students. During his seven years in that position, he frequently visited and taught at a nearby Episcopal church. In the process, he gained a deeper understanding of the Episcopal faith and connected with Episcopal beliefs.
In 1977, Bacon went on sabbatical from his job at Mercer and attended Candler School of Theology at Emory in Atlanta, Georgia where he studied the interface of theology and psychology. While there, Bacon approached the local Episcopal Bishop and requested to become an Episcopal priest. After serving as a youth minister at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, he was granted admission as a postulant for the priesthood. Bacon graduated from the Candler School of Theology at Emory in 1979 and was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1983.
All Saints Episcopal Church - Pasadena
In 1995, Bacon became rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1885, the church was well-established. It reportedly has the largest congregation of any Episcopal Church in the Western United States.
Bacon co-founded "Beyond Inclusion" and "Claiming the Blessing", two organizations that advocated for LGBT rights within the Episcopal Church. He conducted wedding ceremonies for any couple that wished to marry in All Saints after California made gay and lesbian weddings legal. In addition to his regular duties as a rector, he was very active in the wider community. He co-founded Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) and Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative (AFPI). He also founded an interfaith group, New Vision Partners, whose purpose was to develop young peace and justice leaders to live successfully in 21st century interfaith environment. He also served on Human Rights Watch California Committee South and on other national and community boards.