Bishop Thomas E. Breidenthal, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, will be visiting St. Luke's Episcopal Church at 320 Second St., Marietta, on Sunday, May 24.
Breidenthal will preach and conduct the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services. He will also meet with children, youth and adults between the two services.
After the 10 a.m. service, the church's fellowship committee will offer a buffet reception in honor of Breidenthal and his wife, Margaret Ann Garner Breidenthal. The reception will also provide an opportunity for members of the congregation to visit with the bishop and his wife before they return to Cincinnati.
An author, Breidenthal has written about the issues of same-sex unions, what constitutes a Christian household and how to raise ethical children. His books include "Sacred Unions: A New Guide to Life-Long Commitment," published in 2006; and "Christian Households: The Sanctification of Nearness," published in 1997.
Prior to his election as bishop of southern Ohio in 2006, Breidenthal served as the dean of religious life and of the chapel at Princeton University. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1982. Before moving to Princeton, he served for nearly a decade as the John Henry Hobart professor of Christian ethics and moral theology at General Theological Seminary in New York City. He was also a senior chaplain at Harvard School in California and an Episcopal Church Foundation Fellow in Oxford, England. He has also served in two parishes in Oregon and assisted at a congregation in New York City.
Breidenthal is also a member of Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation in the USA and serves on the board of governors for the Anglican Centre in Rome.
