Who is the Rt. Rev. Stewart E. Ruch III, the first bishop of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest in the Anglican Church in North America? Learn more about him in this featured interview!
The Rt. Rev. Stewart E. Ruch III was consecrated the first bishop of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest in the Anglican Church in North America on September 28, 2013. He is the rector of the Church of the Resurrection (Wheaton, IL), where he has served since 1999. He completed his Masters in Theology at Wheaton College Graduate School where he was awarded the Kenneth Kantzer Prize for theology. He is currently working on the completion of his Doctor of Ministry from Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Nashotah, WI.
Bishop Ruch and his wife Katherine have six children. He loves running, reading novels, biographies, and leadership books, and spending as much time as possible exploring forests and streams with his children.
How did you become a Christian believer?
I was raised by parents who knew the Lord and in the Charismatic Movement of the 1970’s, I came to a strong and living faith. In my college years, though, I had a very intense spiritual struggle. My parents divorced, and I found myself spiritually and emotionally confused. That season of confusion became four years of spiritual darkness in which I walked apart from Christ.
In Sept 1991, through the ministry of Church of the Resurrection and Fr. William Beasley, I made a radical return to the Lord and to His church.
What brought you to the “Canterbury Trail” – the Anglican Church?
I was raised in a high church Presbyterian tradition where liturgy and vestments were a part of our worship service. And I would visit my grandparents Episcopal Church from time to time.
But I first fell in love with the Anglican Church my freshman year at Wheaton College when I discovered the Book of Common Prayer and St. Marks Episcopal Church in Geneva, IL. I was literally so excited about going to church that I could hardly sleep on some Saturday nights. The compelling mixture of biblical preaching, poetic prayer and liturgical beauty drew me in to the Anglican way with great power…
Read the rest of this interview where Bishop Stewart shares his vision, calling, and how we can pray for him at AnglicanChurch.net.
