Neil Gedney Lebhar (born 1950) is an American Anglican bishop. He was the first bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, a newly formed diocese of the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cu ...

. He has been rector of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Early life and career

Lebhar was raised in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, the eldest son of a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He graduated from the

Loomis School The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is a selective independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate students, located in Windsor, Connecticut, seven miles no ...

, where, as a senior, he was converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

in 1967 through

FOCUS Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

under the ministry of future Episcopalian bishop John W. Howe. Lebhar married his wife, Marcia, in 1971. He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

in 1972, served as field director for FOCUS, and received seminary degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unite ...

. In 1979, Lebhar was appointed associate rector at Truro Church under John W. Howe. He served there until being called as rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville, then a parish of the

Episcopal Diocese of Florida The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Geor ...

. Lebhar also served on the boards of

Church's Ministry Among Jewish People The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809. History The society began in the early 19th ...

and

Shoresh Shoresh ( he, שורש, שֹׁרֶשׁ, ''lit.'' Root) is a moshav shitufi in central Israel. Located five kilometres from Sha'ar HaGai in the Jerusalem corridor, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a po ...

, and as vice chairman of the 2000 Jacksonville

Billy Graham Crusade William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christia ...

Anglican realignment

In 2007, objecting to the consecration of

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to the ...

and the theological views of TEC, Lebhar and several other clergy and parishes left the Diocese of Florida and sought canonical affiliation with the

Church of Uganda The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known a ...

. On March 25, 2008, Lebhar and 21 other clergy were deposed by Florida Bishop Samuel Howard. Lebhar was elected the first bishop of the newly formed Gulf Atlantic Diocese on August 29, 2009. He was consecrated on February 13, 2010, at Jacksonville's Holy Family Catholic Church by chief consecrator Robert Duncan. The co-consecrators were

John Guernsey John A. M. Guernsey (born 1953) is an American bishop in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Previously an Episcopalian priest, he was consecrated as a bishop of the Church of Uganda in September 2007 as part of the Anglican realignment, ...

, John E. Miller III,

Martyn Minns Martyn Minns (born April 16, 1943) is an English-born American bishop, serving in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. He was the founding missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the patronage of the Anglican ...

, and

Joel Obetia Joel Sampson Obetia (also Obita) is an Anglican bishop in Uganda: he was the sixth Bishop of Madi- West Nile, serving from 2005 to 2016. Obetia was consecrated a bishop on 27 November 2005, by Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda, at Arua ...

, who had served as Lebhar's bishop in Uganda. Lebhar continues to serve in parish ministry in Jacksonville in addition to his episcopal duties, which he has said is a good model for the ministry of a bishop. In 2012, Lebhar received

AMIA Amia, AMIA, or AMiA may refer to: * ''Amia'' (fish), a genus of fish * American Medical Informatics Association *Anglican Mission in the Americas * Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina ** AM ...

bishop John E. Miller III and the parishes under his care as a temporary "assisting bishop" in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese.

Notes

External links

Gulf Atlantic Diocese Bishop's Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebhar, Neil 1950 births Living people Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America People from Westport, Connecticut Clergy from Jacksonville, Florida Christians from Florida Loomis Chaffee School alumni Anglican realignment people