Bishops of Maine
The Right Reverend Frederick Wolf
Bishop Frederick Wolf, the sixth Bishop of Maine, was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He graduated from Grinnell College and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon in 1945 and priest in 1946. He served as priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity Church in Belvidere, Illinois, from 1946 until 1950 and Rector of St Christopher Church from 1950 until 1954, when he was appointed Dean of St John's Cathedral in Quincy, Illinois. He was also associate secretary for leadership training in the department of Christian education for the Executive Council from 1957 until 1959. In 1959, he became Rector of St Peter's in Bennington, Vermont. While in Bennington, he was closely associated with the Parish Training Program of the Province of New England, a summer field work program for seminarians. He was also president of the standing committee of the Diocese of Vermont, a member of the Diocesan Council, and a delegate to the Vermont Church Council. He also served as a deputy to General Convention and was a consultant to the convention's Liturgical Commission.
On June 14, 1968, Wolf was elected Bishop of Maine. He was consecrated on October 4, 1968, in the Cathedral of St. Luke in Portland. The era of Bishop Wolf saw enormous change in the life of the Episcopal Church as a whole, and the diocese strove to absorb those changes at home. As it worked to develop eight new congregations and to bring eight others to full-time status, the diocese was simultaneously making the transition to the new Book of Common Prayer and the ordination of women. Bishop Wolf implemented a vision of a strong vocational diaconate, maintaining an active ministry in the world. Bishop Wolf introduced the Regional Council system as a way of combating “we-they” perceptions in the diocese. He also combated clergy isolation by developing a strong support network for clergy through monthly “clergy days,” a “mutual ministry” that was blessed and strengthened by the bishop’s own recovery work from alcoholism halfway through his episcopate.
Frederick Barton Wolf, Sixth Bishop of Maine Portrait Photograph, January 1, 1971
