More than 1,200 people crowded into the First United Methodist Church in Corpus Christi Jan. 6 for the consecration of the Rev. Robert Boyd Hibbs as Suffragan Bishop of West Texas.

The Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, Presiding Bishop, was consecrator and was assisted by four West Texas bishops; the Rt. Rev. James Folts, diocesan; the Rt. Rev. John MacNaughton, retired diocesan; the Rt. Rev. Scott Field Bailey, retired diocesan; and the Rt. Rev. Earl McArthur, retired suffragan. Nineteen bishops participated in the laying on of hands.

Bishop McArthur was the preacher, and said "the suffragan is the very highest mark of a servant. The apostles had two requirements. That the person chosen be someone who knew Jesus, not just knew about him; and that the person be one who had been in company with Jesus day by day." Bishop McArthur said those qualities are evident in the new suffragan.

Bishop Hibbs was assistant at Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi, when he was elected. He and his wife, Nancy, have two children and four grandchildren.