The Right Rev. John L. Rabb
Bishop Suffragan
John L. Rabb was elected bishop suffragan of Maryland on March 28, 1998 and was consecrated on October 10, 1998 in Alumni Hall of St. James School in St. James, Maryland. Bishop Rabb was named bishop-in-charge upon the April 2007 retirement of Robert Ihloff. He resumed his duties as bishop suffragan June 2008 following the consecration of the 14th bishop of Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa on October 11, 1944, Bishop Rabb received a B.A. in history from DePauw University in 1966, an M.A. in history from the University of Iowa in 1969 and an M.Div from the Episcopal Divinity School in l976. He has done continuing education with the College of Preachers, 1981, 1982 and 1991, the Institute for Servant Leadership, 1988, 1991 and 1994 and the Alban Institute, 1992 and 1997. In the fall and winter of 2004 Bishop Rabb was a Fellow in Residence at the Franciscan International Study Centre, Canterbury, England, UK.
Following a career in teaching and research, Bishop Rabb entered the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1973.
Bishop Rabb began his ordained ministry in 1976 as curate at the Church of the Ascension in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He was also assistant rector and priest-in-charge. In 1979 he became rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles, Arbutus, Maryland. In 1988 he was called as rector of St. Anne's Church, Atlanta, Georgia.
Bishop Rabb has a deep interest in the development of and nurture of the ordained ministry and served as chairperson of the Commission on Ordained Ministry in the Diocese of Maryland and the Diocese of Atlanta. He is also deeply concerned about social justice and ecumenism, and served as president of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta in 1996.
In addition to being president of the Episcopal Urban Caucus, Bishop Rabb is also chair, House of Bishops Committee on Racism; member, Committee on Anti-Racism, Episcopal Church; board member, National Episcopal Health Ministries Network; board member, Joseph Richey House Hospice; and past-president of the Ecumenical Leaders Group of Central Maryland.
His wife, Sharon, works for Campaign Consultation, a fundraising firm in Baltimore. They have two daughters: Alison is an attorney in Chicago; Jennifer is a public school teacher in Washington, D.C.
Bishop Rabb is an avid gardner who specializes in roses.
