Christopher Eptinq Elected Iowa Coadjutor
Episcopal News Service. May 26, 1988 [88112]
Des Moines (DPS, May 26) -- The Rev C. Christopher Epting, 41, rector of St. Mark's Church in Cocoa, Fla., has been elected Bishop Coadjutor of Iowa.
His election on the third ballot took place on May 14 at St. Paul's Church, Des Moines. His electors were the 178 clergy of the diocese and 61 lay delegates representing the congregations of the diocese.
Bishop-elect Epting, who was born in Greenville, S.C., in 1946, is a graduate of the University of Florida and holds theological degrees from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary. He is an associate of the Order of the Holy Cross.
Epting served as curate and assistant at Holy Trinity Church, Melbourne, Fla., vicar of St. Luke the Evangelist, Mulberry, and St. Stephen's, Lakeland, Fla., and was a canon of St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville. From 1974-1977 he was director of the Institute for Christian Studies in Orlando.
He is married to the former Pamela Flagg and they have two children.
Epting was one of four candidates placed in nomination by the diocesan nominating committee. He was one of three remaining on the third ballot.
Among the candidates placed in nomination were the Rev. Anne Robbins, rector of St. David's Church in Vandalia, Ohio, one of the earliest women candidates for the House of Bishops; the Rev. William McCarthy, rector of Christ Church in Waukegan, Ill.; and the Rev. C. Joseph Sitts, rector of Christ Church in Warren, Ohio.
On the third and final ballot, the bishop-elect had 41 clerical and 101 lay votes, Robbins had 15 clerical and 52 lay votes, and McCarthy had five clerical and 25 lay votes. (Sitts withdrew after the second ballot.)
Bishop-elect Epting will succeed the retiring diocesan, the Rt. Rev. Walter C. Righter, in late September. Righter has been Bishop of Iowa since 1972.