The Very Rev. Barry R. Howe, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, St. Petersburg, Fla., was elected Bishop Coadjutor of West Missouri Sept. 13. Dean Howe, 54, was elected on the fourth ballot.

Three candidates, including Dean Howe, were nominated by a diocesan transition committee. Four others were nominated from the floor.

Dean Howe is a native of Norristown, Pa., and a graduate of Gettysburg College. He received a master of divinity from Philadelphia Divinity School and a doctor of ministry from the University of the South. After being ordained deacon in 1967 and priest in 1968, he was curate of St. David's, Devon, Pa., until 1971. He was associate at St. Boniface, Sarasota, Fla., 1971-73; canon pastor of St. Luke's Cathedral, Orlando, 1973-78; rector of St. Richard's, Winter Park, Fla., 1978-83; rector of Christ Church, South Hamilton, Mass., 1983-87, and became dean in St. Petersburg in 1987.

He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of two children, Rebecca and Matthew.

The other candidates nominated by the committee were the Rev. Canon Ben Helmer, regional missioner in West Missouri, and the Rev. Hollis Williams, Jr., rector of Trinity Church, Everett, Wash. Nominated from the floor were: the Rev. Canon Kevin E. Martin, canon for congregational development in the Diocese of Texas; the Ven. John McCann, archdeacon of West Missouri; the Rev. Ruth Urban, rector of St. Matthew's, Nashville, Tenn., and the Very Rev. Keith Whitmore, dean of Christ Cathedral, Salina, Kan.

The Bishop of West Missouri, the Rt. Rev. John C. Buchanan, called for the election of a bishop coadjutor in anticipation of his retirement in 1999.