06.26.08
Robin Biffle called to be St. Mark’s rector
The Rev. Robin Biffle, a recent graduate of the School of Theology at the University of South, will be the next rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Bishop James Waggoner has given his approval to the call. “We look forward with excitement to having the Rev. Robin join our congregation,” Senior Warden Ben Jenness said.
The Vestry voted unanimously June 24 to call Ms. Biffle as rector, effective Aug. 1. Her first Sunday worship service will be Aug. 3 at 9:30 a.m. Ms. Biffle expects to move to Moscow in late July.
Ms. Biffle was ordained a deacon June 1 in Helena, Mont., by the Rt. Rev. Franklin Brookhart, bishop of Montana. She will serve in the transitional diaconate until her ordination to the priesthood later this year.
The first of three finalists to visit St. Mark’s this spring, Ms. Biffle was strongly endorsed by the Search Committee. “Reviewers consistently noted the Rev. Biffle’s energy, enthusiasm deep spirituality and pastoral talent,” Cynthia Mika, the committee’s chair, wrote in a letter to the Vestry.
Ms. Biffle received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Whitman College in Walla Walla in 1974. She was a journalist for 12 years, including time as an investigative reporter specializing in issues relating to at-risk and marginalized women and children. She then spent 17 years in law enforcement, working as an administrator, supervisor and field worker for the Port Townsend Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
After leaving law enforcement, she spent three years in the discernment process for the ordained ministry, including time as manager of the Episcopal Retreat Center for the Diocese of Montana. While attending the University of the South, she has been a seminary intern at Grace Fellowship Church, an Appalachian community church in Sewanee, Tenn.
Ms. Biffle is a mountain-bike rider, hiker, jogger and sometimes long-distance runner.