Some of you may know that our assigned bishop, Robert Schnase recently announced his retirement after 20 years serving as an episcopal leader in Missouri, Texas, and now New Mexico. Our new bishop has been announced and I wanted to share some of his biography.
Bishop Carlo Rapanut was elected in 2022. He is the first Filipino-born bishop elected in the United States. He was born and raised in Baguio City, Philippines and was nurtured in faith in the Baguio City First United Methodist Church where, as a youth, he felt a call to serve.
Carlo went to the University of the Philippines (UP) where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1994. After college, he served as president of his annual conference United Methodist Youth Fellowship for four years and it was during that time that he discerned a call to ordained ministry.
After a brief stint working as a scriptwriter, anchor and voice-over talent for a local TV station, Carlo answered the call to ministry. Carlo attended Wesley Divinity School in Cabanatuan City, Philippines where he finished his Master of Divinity, magna cum laude, in 2003. When he was elected bishop, Carlo was serving as director of connectional ministries for the Alaska Conference.
Carlo is joyfully married to Zoraida “Radie” Sanchez Rapanut, a certified public bookkeeper. They make a home with their two sons Karl Caleb and Titus Carl. Carlo fell in love with long-distance running as an adult and has done many races in the past 10 years from 10Ks to Ultra marathons. He also enjoys cycling, photography, and hiking with Radie.
We will invite Bishop Carlo, as he likes to be called, to St John’s when his schedule allows. I am certain you will enjoy meeting him. In the meantime, please pray for our new bishop and for New Mexico Conference. The bishop will be serving both our conference and our neighbors in Desert Southwest Conference and will be based in Phoenix.
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