A. Theodore Eastman, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland from 1986 until he retired in 1994 and whose moderate stances on social issues, including gay rights, made him a transitional figure within the church, died April 26 at a hospital in Arlington, Va. He was 89.
The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, said a daughter, Anne Eastman Rosenbaum.
Bishop Eastman recognized that he presided at a time of difficulty for his church, noting in a 1993 interview that his leadership was marked by “fractious criticism, flagging confidence and fluctuating morale.”
He told the Baltimore Sun in 1994 that he viewed his role as being “a unifying force” in a diocese of more than 100 congregations and 23 schools in 10 counties in Western, Central and Southern Maryland. At the time, the Episcopal Church was struggling over internal debates about the acceptance of LGBT members and the ordination of gay and female priests, “so I felt tension of trying to hold people with different points of view together,” Bishop Eastman said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/a-theodore-eastman-bishop-of-the-episcopal-diocese-of-maryland-dies-at-89/2018/04/28/cb480b24-4a38-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.01f7890f95fd
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