Bishops of Maine
The Right Reverend Edward Chalfant
The seventh Bishop of Maine, Edward Chalfant, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1937. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1963 and served parishes in Clearwater, Florida, first as associate rector of Ascension Church and then from 1967, as rector of St John's Church. He was called to Southern Ohio in 1972 to be rector of St. Mark's Church in Columbus, Ohio. In 1984, Chalfant was one of five priests nominated for the post of Coadjutor Bishop of Maine. He was elected on April 13, 1984, and succeeded Bishop Wolf in 1986.
As Bishop of Maine, Chalfant presided over the founding of a Long Range Planning Committee that developed, in conversation with local congregations, the diocese’s first mission and vision statements. Under Bishop Chalfant’s guidance, the diocesan commissions underwent major restructuring. Work included goals of streamlining the budget building process, strengthening the regional councils and the Diocesan Council, stimulating and supporting a variety of outreach ministries, and generally broadening the representation from local congregations in the governance of the diocese. The strengthening of rural congregations and the maintenance of diocesan unity were issues at the forefront of diocesan concern.
In May 1996, Bishop Chalfant resigned as the result of the revelation of sexual misconduct.
