Christopher Epting

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Carl Christopher Epting, born November 26, 1946, in Greenville, South Carolina, is a bishop in the Episcopal Church (USA). He grew up in Orlando, Florida, and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, a Master of Divinity from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and a Master of Sacred Theology from General Theological Seminary. He did Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Iowa. He was ordained a deacon in April 1972 and a priest in November 1972. Epting spent 16 years in parish ministry in Central Florida, serving as a curate in Melbourne, a vicar in Mulberry and Lakeland, a Canon Residentiary at St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville, and rector of St. Mark’s in Cocoa.

He was elected coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Iowa and became bishop in 1988, serving as diocesan bishop until 2001. He focused on renewing the diaconate, spiritual formation, and ecumenical relations. In 1989, Iowa began Education for Ministry; in 1992 the diocese organized into deaneries, and St. Paul’s Des Moines became the liturgical cathedral while Trinity Cathedral in Davenport became the historical cathedral. The diocese faced changes in the 1990s, including hospital mergers and selling the Episcopal Center for Camps and Conferences.

At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, Epting joined 145 bishops who disagreed with resolutions on the ordination of women, the ordination of homosexuals, and the blessing of same-sex unions. He signed a resolution affirming gay Anglicans and recognized the hurt caused by the resolutions, while he continued to ordain and deploy women in Iowa.

In 2001, he became the Episcopal Church’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, the first bishop to hold that role. He worked with the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches and led dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, the Jewish-Christian dialogue of the National Council of Churches, and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. He retired from that role at the end of 2009. In 2010 he became interim dean at Trinity Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa, and in 2012 he became Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago, serving until December 2015 when he planned to retire.

Since 2021, Epting and his wife Susanne Watson have lived in Englewood, Colorado.