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The
Rev. Alan Scarfe, rector of St. Barnabas’ Church, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles),
was elected Nov. 1 on the second ballot as ninth diocesan bishop of the
150-year-old Diocese of Iowa.
“Prayer, presence and preaching will be my first and most valued gifts in
return to you,” the bishop-elect wrote to the Iowa diocese, citing their
“generosity and courage” in electing him to the post. Among his major
concerns, he wrote, was to establish additional congregations in the
diocese, which covers the entire state of Iowa and includes 63
congregations.
Mutual ministry development—encouraging every baptized person to discern
God’s call to ministry—has always been an important aspect of Scarfe’s work,
both before and after ordination to the priesthood. “That’s probably the
thing that drew me most to Iowa,” he commented, pointing out that his new
diocese was looking for a “total ministry bishop.” He was especially
encouraged by the Iowa diocese’s “dynamic” young people’s ministry—he and
the other candidates for bishop were questioned at length by youth
representatives—and is challenged by the difficulties of ministry in a
diocese in which about half the churches have fewer than 50 active members.
Scarfe is currently a member of the Los Angeles diocesan Commission on
Ministry and Mission Strategy Task Force. He also served the diocese as
ecumenical officer from 1996-98, helping to implement the Lutheran/Anglican
concordat. He once described himself to The News as a “Baptimethanglipentidox,”
a blend of many denominations.
“I was christened and confirmed an Anglican,” explained Scarfe, who was born
in England in 1950, “raised a Methodist, re-baptized an Anabaptist as an
adult, baptized with the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal Church, and a
student in the Orthodox Church in Romania.”
Scarfe was ordained an Episcopal deacon in 1986 by Bishop Diocesan Robert C.
Rusack, and a priest later that year by Bishop Suffragan Oliver B. Garver,
Jr. He assisted at St. Columba’s, Camarillo, until he was called in 1989 as
rector of St. Barnabas’ Church. He also served for a time as
Episcopal-Lutheran chaplain at nearby Occidental College.
Before entering the ministry, Scarfe taught at Wheaton College, Illinois,
and was a researcher at Keston College in England, a research and
communications center on religious affairs in Eastern Europe. He is a
graduate of General Theological Seminary, New York City.
After he graduated from Oxford University, Scarfe spent three years studying
at the Romanian Orthodox Institute in Bucharest. While there, he met his
wife, Donna, who was studying ballet under a Fulbright Fellowship. She is
presently a deaf services coordinator at Glendale Community College, runs a
successful hat-making business and is familiar to the diocese as a sign
language interpreter at Diocesan Convention, and to the local community for
her work in theater and dance. The Scarfes were married in 1975, and have
four children: Dominic (24), Kimberly (22), Sarah (19) and Elliot (15).
Scarfe’s ordination and installation as Bishop of Iowa will take place on
April 5, 2003, at the Des Moines Civic Center. |
Allan Scarfe
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