Gretchen Rehberg

Last updated

Gretchen M. Rehberg
IX Bishop of Spokane
Gretchen Rehberg, Ninth Bishop Episcopal Diocese of Spokane.jpg
Church Episcopal Church
Diocese Episcopal Diocese of Spokane
ElectedOctober 18, 2016 [1]
Predecessor James Waggoner [2]
Orders
ConsecrationMarch 18, 2017 [2]
by  Michael Bruce Curry
Education

Gretchen Mary Rehberg is the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Rehberg was born in Pullman, Washington on July 7, 1964. Her mother, Margaret Rehberg (nee: Boe) was a homemaker and her father, Wallace Rehberg, was a professor at Washington State University. The family had a small farm outside of town. [3] After graduating from Pullman High School in 1982, Rehberg attended Sewanee: The University of the South.

Rehberg's first doctorate was a Ph.D. in chemistry. She received her Master of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary in 2002. [4] She later received her Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. [3]

Career

Rehberg was a professor of organic chemistry at Bucknell University until the late 1990s, when she left to enter theological school. [3] For over 20 years, Rehberg volunteered as an EMT and firefighter. [3] She was in New York City on September 11, 2001 and provided first aid to survivors of the World Trade Center attack. [4] Later, she volunteered with a hazmat team doing cleanup at Ground Zero. [3]

Rehberg was rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Lewiston, Idaho for 11 years prior to her consecration as bishop. [2] She had also held several diocesan leadership positions. [1] On October 18, 2016, she was elected as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, and she was consecrated at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane on March 18, 2017. [1]

Rehberg has pulmonary fibrosis, possibly caused by conditions she experienced in her work in New York after the World Trade Center attack. In 2022, she suffered a flare up that significantly reduced her lung capacity and as of May 2023, is awaiting a double-lung transplant while she continues to travel her diocese in her work as bishop. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Harris (bishop)</span> American bishop (1930–2020)

Barbara Clementine Harris was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. She was the first woman consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion. She was elected suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, on September 24, 1988, and was consecrated on February 11, 1989. Eight thousand people attended the service, which was held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She served in the role of suffragan bishop for 13 years, retiring in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Spokane</span> Diocese in eastern Washington and North Idaho, United States.

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, United States. Its office and cathedral seat are in Spokane, Washington. The current bishop is Gretchen Rehberg, the first woman to lead the Diocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Griswold</span> American bishop (1937–2023)

Frank Tracy Griswold III was an American clergyman who served as the 25th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma dates back to 1837 as a Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church recognized the Diocese of Oklahoma in 1937. The diocese consists of all Episcopal congregations in the state of Oklahoma. The ninth Bishop and sixth diocesan Bishop is Poulson C. Reed, consecrated in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William S. Skylstad</span> American Roman Catholic Bishop (born 1934)

William Stephen Skylstad is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane in Washington State from 1990 to 2010. He previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Yakima in Washington State from 1977 to 1990.

Catherine Elizabeth Maples Waynick is an American Anglican bishop. She was the 10th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis from 1997 to 2017. She was elected bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis in January 1997, was consecrated on June 7 of that year, and became the diocesan bishop on September 10, 1997. She succeeded Edward W. Jones, who served from 1977 to 1997. At the 2015 diocesan convention, Waynick announced plans to retire, and called for the election of a new bishop to be consecrated in 2017. She was succeeded by Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows on April 29, 2017. Waynick was called to serve as provisional bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan on October 21, 2017, serving until 2019.

Alan Scarfe is a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Iowa, 2003 - 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Prior</span>

Brian Norman Prior is an American prelate of the Episcopal Church currently serving as the assisting bishop in the Diocese of Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariann Budde</span> American Episcopal bishop (born 1959)

Mariann Edgar Budde is an Episcopal prelate who has served as Bishop of Washington since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Adelia McLeod</span> American bishop (1938–2022)

Mary Adelia Rosamond McLeod was the first woman diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church. She was elected bishop of the Diocese of Vermont on June 5, 1993, at a special convention held at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington. Clergy and lay delegates selected her from among five nominees.

Stephen Edwards Keeler was the fourth diocesan bishop of Minnesota in The Episcopal Church.

Matthew Alan Gunter is the ninth and current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin in The Episcopal Church. He assumed this post upon the 2024 merger of the Dioceses of Eau Claire and Fond du Lac with the Diocese of Milwaukee. From 2014 to 2024, he was the diocesan bishop of Fond du Lac. Prior to becoming bishop, he served as Rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and as Assistant Rector of St. David Church, Glenview, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyman Ogilby</span> American bishop and priest

Lyman Cunningham Ogilby was an Episcopal priest who became a missionary bishop in the Philippines, coadjutor bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota and later the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, where he succeeded Bishop Robert L. DeWitt and became the 13th diocesan bishop until his retirement.

Thomas Edward "Tom" Breidenthal is the former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. On September 18, 2020, Breidenthal announced his retirement on November 29, 2020, citing complications with his health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilton R. Knudsen</span> American bishop

Chilton Abbie Richardson Knudsen is a bishop of the Episcopal Church. Knudsen served as the diocesan bishop of Maine for a decade (1997–2008). Upon retiring from that position, she then served as interim bishop in the Diocese of Lexington (2011–2012) and as assistant bishop in the Diocese of New York (2013–2014) and the Diocese of Long Island (2014–2015). In May 2015, she began serving as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Maryland. On December 6, 2018, Knudsen announced her resignation from that temporary position after accepting a position as assisting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington as of February 20, 2019. In August, 2021 she was appointed assisting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago due to Bishop Paula Clark having to delay her consecration for health reasons.

Thomas Kreider "Tom" Ray was the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan.

Jennifer Anne Reddall is an American prelate who is the sixth and current bishop of Arizona.

Bonnie Anne Perry is a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. She was elected the Diocese of Michigan's eleventh diocesan bishop on June 1, 2019, which made her the first woman and first openly lesbian priest elected as an Episcopal bishop in Michigan.

William Joseph White is an American Anglican bishop who served as bishop ordinary of the Reformed Episcopal Church's Diocese of the Southeast.

Sanco King Rembert was an American Anglican bishop notable for being the first African-American bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Consecrated in 1966 to assist in the REC's Missionary Jurisdiction of the South, he served from 1987 to 1998 as bishop ordinary of the Diocese of the Southeast. Since Rembert, all bishops ordinary in the Diocese of the Southeast have been black.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gretchen M. Rehberg consecrated ninth bishop of Spokane". Episcopal News Service. March 28, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Simmons, Tracy (March 19, 2017). "Gretchen Rehberg ordained as first female bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, WA.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Simmons, Tracy (November 18, 2016). "Spokane's new Episcopal bishop brings varied experiences to her role in the church". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, WA.
  4. 1 2 Silver, Jonathan (October 18, 2016). "Gretchen Rehberg '02 Elected Ninth Bishop of Spokane". General News. General Theological Seminary.
  5. Paulsen, David (2023-05-26). "Awaiting double lung transplant, Spokane bishop travels diocese, feels 'called by God' to ministry". Episcopal News Service. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
Episcopal Church (USA) titles
Preceded by Bishop of Spokane
2017–present
Incumbent