| Right Reverend C. Christopher Epting, D.D. |
|
|---|---|
| VIII Bishop of Iowa | |
| Church | Episcopal Church |
| See | Iowa |
| In Office | September 27, 1988 – April 15, 2001 |
| Predecessor | Walter Cameron Righter |
| Successor | Alan Scarfe |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | November, 1972 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 26, 1946 Greenville, South Carolina |
Carl Christopher "Chris" Epting (born November 26, 1946) is a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He served the Diocese of Iowa as coadjutor bishop and diocesan bishop from 1988–2001, and as the Deputy for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations for the Episcopal Church from 2001-2009.
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Epting was born in Greenville, South Carolina and was raised in Orlando, Florida.[1]
He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, a Master of Divinity degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from General Theological Seminary. He did his Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Iowa. He married Pamela Flagg in 1969 and they were married until her death in 2000. In 2001 he married the Rev. Susanne Watson.[2] Epting was ordained a deacon in April, 1972, and a priest in November of the same year.
Rev. Epting served 16 years in parish ministry in the Diocese of Central Florida. He had been a curate at Holy Trinity Church in Melbourne, a vicar at parishes in Mulberry and Lakeland, and a Canon Residentiary at St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville.
Epting was serving as rector at St. Mark's Church in Cocoa, Florida when he was elected coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Iowa. Epting was consecrated a bishop on September 27, 1988 by the Presiding Bishop Edmond Lee Browning and Bishops William H. Folwell and Walter Cameron Righter. He was the 830th Episcopal bishop consecrated in the United States. Nineteen bishops attended the liturgy, including the Most Rev. Lawrence Edward Luscombe, the Bishop of Brechin and former Primus of Scotland, and Rt. Rev. Bernard Mkhabela the Bishop of Swaziland.
Bishop Epting succeeded Bishop Righter as Bishop of Iowa at the end of 1988. During his episcopate in Iowa he renewed the diaconate, spiritual formation and ecumenical relations. In 1989 the diocese began participation in Education for Ministry, an extension program of the School of Theology of the University of the South.[3] The diocese was organized into deaneries in June 1992. The same year St. Paul’s Church in Des Moines became the Diocese’s liturgical cathedral and Trinity Cathedral in Davenport became the historical cathedral of the diocese.
The diocese lost a couple of its institutions in the 1990s. In 1994 St. Luke’s Hospital in Davenport merged with Mercy Hospital and became Genesis Health System. The Episcopal Center for Camps and Conferences was sold in 1996 because of its deteriorated condition and the cost to repair and replace the facilities.
Epting served in leadership positions in the state council of churches and Ecumenical Ministries in Iowa. He also chaired the Episcopal Church's writing team for Called to Common Mission, which established full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[4] In 1998 Bishop Epting attended the Lambeth Conference in England. He joined with 145 other bishops who disagreed with resolutions on the ordination of women, ordination of homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions. He signed a resolution affirming gay Anglicans and recognized the hurt that was caused by the passage of the resolutions. He also continued to ordain and deploy women as deacons and priests in Iowa.
In 2001 the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, asked Bishop Epting to serve as the church’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations. It was the first time a bishop served in this capacity.[4] He continued in the position after the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori became the Presiding Bishop. In this position Bishop Epting served on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches. He staffed the bilateral dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church and Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, the Jewish-Christian dialogue of the National Council of Churches, and the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. He retired as the church’s ecumenical officer at the end of 2009.
On January 1, 2010 he became the interim dean at Trinity Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa.[4]