LYNN – St. Stephen’s Memorial Episcopal Church Rev. Jane Gould is one of five nominees for Episcopal bishop of Chicago.Gould was an unsuccessful candidate in May 2006 for the post of Episcopal bishop of the California diocese. Three openly gay pastors were also nominated for the post. One of the candidates for the Chicago post is the Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, who has a female partner.If Lind wins the election, she would be the second bishop living with a same-sex partner in the Episcopal Church. New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who has a male partner, was consecrated in 2003, pushing the world Anglican Communion to the brink of schism.Gould is on vacation in Mexico and could not be reached for comment. She returns on Sept. 9. St. Stephen’s assistant Matthew Stewart said Gould’s candidacy will be announced to St. Stephen’s congregation members at services this Sunday.”We at St. Stephen’s have greatly mixed feelings about this news,” Stewart said in a statement Thursday. “We know Jane to be a brilliant and gifted woman who would make an excellent, visionary bishop, particularly in an urban diocese such as Chicago. However, we care for Jane deeply as our pastor, leader and friend, as we do not want to lose her.”Gould was installed as St. Stephen’s pastor in 2004 and has served at the church since 2000. Before coming to Lynn she served for six years as Episcopal chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.St. Stephen’s has a history as a parish whose priests become bishops. In 1925, the Rev. William Appleton Lawrence was elected as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.Gould was delegate in the June 2006 election that chose a female Nevada pastor to be presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The election set the stage for church leaders to close divides over the issue of gay bishops.Next month, U.S. Episcopal bishops will meet to decide whether they should agree to Anglican demands that they unequivocally pledge by Sept. 30 not to consecrate another openly gay bishop. If the bishops say no, the church could lose its full membership in the 77 million-member communion.The other candidates for Chicago bishop are the Rev. Jeffrey Lee, rector of St. Thomas Church in Medina, Wash.; the Rev. Margaret Rose, director of national Episcopal women’s ministries; and the Rev. Timothy Safford, rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia.Chicago Bishop William Persell plans to resign after his successor is consecrated.