The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston has appointed the Rt. Rev. Robert Ihloff as bishop associate in the Diocese of Virginia, effective March 11.
Bishop Ihloff served as the Bishop of Maryland from 1995 until his retirement in 2007. He will help fulfill the former duties of Bishop Edwin F. (Ted) Gulick Jr., who retired in December. The diocese will elect a second suffragan bishop later in 2018.
“I have long admired Bishop Ihloff’s work in the Diocese of Maryland and in the broader church, and I know how valuable his skills and gifts will be to our diocese during this time of transition,” Bishop Johnston said. “Bob is both a strong leader and a model of humility. Also, he is a compelling combination of optimism and straight talk, in which each of those qualities is strengthened by the other one. He is eager to get started, and I am eager to welcome him.”
“Because my favorite ministries are preaching, teaching, and working with parishes on issues of mission and congregational development, and because I find it humbling and exciting to work with clergy on discerning their roles in ministry, I am excited about assisting as a bishop in Virginia,” Ihloff said. “Virginia is a very healthy diocese with fine leadership. Over my years in neighboring Maryland, I have come to appreciate the ways in which the Diocese of Virginia models mission and ministry, and I feel privileged to share a small role in that ministry as your bishop associate.”
From 2002 to 2009, Bishop Ihloff served as president of Province III (13 dioceses in the mid-Atlantic area including Virginia). In that capacity, he served as a member of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice, advising two consecutively serving Presiding Bishops. From 1996 to 2009, he was a member of the House of Bishops’ theology committee.
In 2014, he came out of retirement for 14 months to be full-time Interim rector at Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore’s largest Episcopal parish. Bishop Ihloff and his wife, Nancy, have two married children and six grandchildren.
Adapted from the Diocese of Virginia
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
