William H Love

Early education, career, and marriage

Love attended Southwest Texas State University and SUNY Plattsburgh, where he received a bachelor's degree. He received his Master's degree in Divinity in 1991 from Nashotah House, a "high church" Episcopal seminary. He was ordained a deacon in 1991, and a priest in 1992. Love served as a curate at the Cathedral of All Saints for a year, during which time he served as a delegate to the church's National Convention. He became rector of St. Mary's Church in Lake Luzerne, New York, near Lake George, New York, where he served for 14 years. He is married to Karen and they have two teenage children.

Bishop of Albany

Love was elected bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, after several ballots in a highly contested election, on March 25, 2006; he received the consent of the General Convention that summer in Columbus, Ohio.

Love was consecrated bishop by the Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, on September 16, 2006, at the Empire State Plaza Amongst the Co-Consecrators and Con-Celebrants were 8th Bishop of Albany Daniel W. Herzog, David J. Bena (at the time Bishop Suffragan of Albany), 7th Bishop of Albany David Standish Ball and Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore in Ireland.

On Bishop Herzog's retirement, Love was installed in the cathedra in the choir at Albany's historic Cathedral of All Saints, as the 9th bishop of Albany.

"The mainstream of Anglican life and teaching"

Love has consistently stood for the orthodox view of scriptures and the stance of the church on human sexuality, but has also sought to avoid extreme statements and actions, but rather to steer a middle ground between opposing viewpoints. He has come to be regarded as leader of a "loyal opposition" in the Episcopal Church. In his own words:

The Diocese of Albany, as demonstrated by the results of the Primates’ meeting, stands in the mainstream of Anglican life and teaching. By the grace of God, we will continue to do so. Keeping our focus on Jesus Christ, it is imperative that we reach out to one another in Christian love and charity, treating all people with dignity and respect. As Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we are called by our Lord to be obedient to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with all who will receive it. I ask for the prayers of each member of this Diocese as we continue to move forward in answer to our Lord’s call. May God use each one of us as an instrument of His love and healing grace in this torn and broken world.

On January 19, 2008, Love celebrated the Eucharist at St. Andrew's Church in Albany while hosting a visit by Bonnie Anderson, president of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies. A dialogue followed between progressives from Via Media and the more conservative representatives of the church, and "stressed unity and communication". Both liberals and conservatives in the diocese praised Love for attending the event. The national church's web site posted a highly laudatory story about the event, quoting several of the 300 attendees at the event, including Bishop Love.

In June 2008, under Love's leadership, the Episcopal Diocese of Albany passed a resolution stating that only heterosexual marriages may be celebrated within the diocese. After the resolution was passed, Bishop Love was quoted as stating that "the important thing ... is that God loves all people, regardless of where they might be in their life. That doesn't necessarily mean he approves of all of our behaviors."

In July 2009, Love gained national attention when he explained his views at the Episcopal Church's convention in Anaheim, California. At a news conference organized by conservatives at that meeting, Love said "It is breaking my heart to see the church destroy itself." Yet he vowed to remain within the Episcopal Church. Love continued to be in the news in October 2009, when he commented on the state of the church after the Vatican, in the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, announced a canonical framework to integrate groups of disaffected Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church. Love was quoted as saying, "What state we are in when we get through this, only God knows ..." He also acknowledged that two parishes in the Diocese of Albany were attempting to leave the Episcopal Church. Since that time, no parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany have left the Episcopal Church, and Love has granted Delegated Ecclesiastical Parish Oversight (DEPO), a status where these parishes receive certain pastoral functions from a bishop not part of the diocese, while remaining a part of the Albany diocese, to three parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. The parishes receiving DEPO are St. Luke's, Saranac Lake, St. George's, Schenectady, and St. John's, Essex.

He is currently a member of Communion Partners, an Episcopalian group which opposed the 77th General Episcopal Convention's decision to authorize the blessing of same-sex marriages in 2012. The measure to allow the blessing of same-sex unions won by a 111–41 vote with 3 abstentions.