Larry R. Benfield Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
Larry R. Benfield
Elected:November 11, 2006
Term:2007–2024
Retired:-->
Predecessor:Larry Maze
Successor:John T. W. Harmon
Ordination:1990
Ordained By:Maurice Benitez
Consecration:January 6, 2007
Consecrated By:Katharine Jefferts Schori
Birth Date:28 July 1955
Tomb:-->

Larry R. Benfield (born July 28, 1955) is the thirteenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas.

Benfield was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, on July 28, 1955. He studied at the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in agricultural economics, and later a Master of Arts in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. He then worked in commercial banking in Houston, Texas. He also studied for the ordained ministry at the Virginia Theological Seminary, and earned a Master of Divinity in 1990.

Benfield was ordained deacon and priest in 1990 by Bishop Maurice Benitez of Texas. Between 1990 and 1992 he served as chaplain at Texas A&M University. In 1992 he became curate of St Mark's Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later became its interim rector. In 1996 he became interim rector of St Luke's Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, while in 1998 he went to work as executive for planned giving and later as canon for administration in the Diocese of Arkansas. In 2001 he became rector of Christ Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1]

On November 11, 2006, Benfield was elected Bishop of Arkansas on the seventh ballot. He was consecrated on January 6, 2007, at the Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock.[2]

Benfield announced his retirement 8 June 2022.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://www.collegeforbishops.org/board-of-directors "THE RT REV'D LARRY R. BENFIELD, SECRETARY, DIOCESE OF ARKANSAS"
  2. https://archive.wfn.org/2006/11/msg00138.html "Arkansas elects Larry R. Benfield as its 13th bishop"
  3. Web site: Bishop Benfield Announces Retirement . The Episcopal Church in Arkansas . 11 January 2024.