Bishop Dean Wolfe
The Right Reverend Dean Elliott Wolfe, D.D. is the Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, founded in 1859. He oversees 45 congregations, two campus ministry centers and one secondary school. Bishop Wolfe became the diocesan bishop on January 1, 2004.
Bishop Wolfe is the Vice President of the House of Bishops, Chair of the House of Bishops Planning Committee, delegate to the World Council of Churches, and member of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice, The Joint Committee for Planning and Arrangements for General Convention, and the Pastoral Development Committee. He also serves as a coaching bishop, faculty member and member of the Board of Directors for the College for Bishops.
Within the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, he is a member of the boards of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, Episcopal Community Services in Kansas City, Episcopal Social Services in Wichita and Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence. Over the past decade he has focused on innovative diocesan leadership and the creative use of parish resources. He initiated an ambitious plan to expand local education for lay and clergy leaders, which has resulted in the creation of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, a unique collaboration of the Dioceses of Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas. He also has worked to strengthen youth and campus ministries throughout the diocese.
Bishop Wolfe is an Associate of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, and Chaplain of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
He is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (B.A. in Political Science and Religion, 1987) and Virginia Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity degree, 1992; Doctor of Divinity degree, Honoris Causa, 2004). He completed a yearlong Clinical Pastoral Counseling residency at The Washington Hospital Center and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Before being elected bishop, Wolfe served as Vice Rector of Saint Michael and All Angels in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country. Prior to that, he served as Associate Rector for Community Life at Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Following his ordination at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, he began his ordained ministry as Assistant and then as Associate Rector at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley, California.
He is married to Ellen Frantz-Wolfe, a mother, businesswoman, and active community and church volunteer. They have a son, William, who recently graduated from Sewanee, The University of the South, with a degree in Philosophy and Political Science.
Bishop Wolfe is the Vice President of the House of Bishops, Chair of the House of Bishops Planning Committee, delegate to the World Council of Churches, and member of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice, The Joint Committee for Planning and Arrangements for General Convention, and the Pastoral Development Committee. He also serves as a coaching bishop, faculty member and member of the Board of Directors for the College for Bishops.
Within the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, he is a member of the boards of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, Episcopal Community Services in Kansas City, Episcopal Social Services in Wichita and Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence. Over the past decade he has focused on innovative diocesan leadership and the creative use of parish resources. He initiated an ambitious plan to expand local education for lay and clergy leaders, which has resulted in the creation of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, a unique collaboration of the Dioceses of Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas. He also has worked to strengthen youth and campus ministries throughout the diocese.
Bishop Wolfe is an Associate of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, and Chaplain of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.
He is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (B.A. in Political Science and Religion, 1987) and Virginia Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity degree, 1992; Doctor of Divinity degree, Honoris Causa, 2004). He completed a yearlong Clinical Pastoral Counseling residency at The Washington Hospital Center and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Before being elected bishop, Wolfe served as Vice Rector of Saint Michael and All Angels in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country. Prior to that, he served as Associate Rector for Community Life at Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Following his ordination at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, he began his ordained ministry as Assistant and then as Associate Rector at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley, California.
He is married to Ellen Frantz-Wolfe, a mother, businesswoman, and active community and church volunteer. They have a son, William, who recently graduated from Sewanee, The University of the South, with a degree in Philosophy and Political Science.