About
About the Diocese of Mid-America
The Diocese of Mid-America is one of four Dioceses in the Reformed Episcopal Church. Although parishes are not yet planted in every state, the Diocese is comprised of parishes in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Additionally, the Diocese currently provides episcopal oversight to parishes in Western Canada.
I may make, now, a most earnest appeal to the clergy and laity to press forward in the great cause which we have espoused in the love and fear of God.
— Bishop Samuel Fallows
Our Leadership
The Most Rev. Ray R. Sutton
Bishop Ordinary, Diocese of Mid-America
The Most Rev. Ray R. Sutton serves as the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) and the Ordinary of the Diocese of Mid America. He is also the Dean of the Province and Ecumenical Affairs of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), of which the Reformed Episcopal Church is a founding member and special jurisdiction. Bishop Sutton often lectures at ACNA and Reformed Episcopal Seminaries, and is a popular retreat speaker.
A native of Kentucky and a Dallas resident since he was 13, Bishop Sutton received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University and his Masters of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. From 1976 to 1991, he served as a parish minister. Following this, he pursued doctoral studies in an associated research program at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford with Coventry University, from which he received his Ph.D. He became the Dean and Professor of New Testament at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia, and continues as an adjunct professor today. Later, Bishop Sutton functioned as Dean and Professor of Theology at Cranmer Theological House, where he continues to teach. He has also authored four books on theology, his most recent being Signed, Sealed and Delivered: A Study of Holy Baptism.
Bishop Sutton is married to Susan Jean Schaerdel of Dallas, a fellow graduate of Southern Methodist University. The Suttons have seven children and four grandchildren. The Suttons live in Dallas where Bishop Sutton’s residential offices are at the Cathedral of the Church of the Holy Communion.
The Rt. Rev. Walter R. Banek
Suffragan Bishop
The Rt. Rev’d Walter R. Banek is the Rector of Good Shepherd Church & School in Tyler, Texas.
He has served at this parish since 1981, initially as Headmaster of the parish school, and in 1992 he was also called to be the Rector. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bible-Theology from Moody Bible Institute, and a Master of Divinity from Cummin’s Theological Seminary, REC. He has served on numerous Boards and Committees in the Reformed Episcopal Church.
He was Consecrated as a Bishop in the Church on August 23, A.D. 2017, to serve as Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Mid-America, REC and a member of the College of Bishops in the Anglican Church of North America.
Bishop Banek is married to Nelda Louise Hoyt, whom he met while studying at Moody. The Baneks have seven children (three adopted from Russia) and twenty grandchildren.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles F. Camlin
Suffragan Bishop, Diocese of Mid-America
The Very Rev. Canon Charles Camlin is a native of Georgetown, S.C. He serves as the Dean/Rector of Church of the Holy Communion Cathedral. He is also Headmaster of Holy Communion Christian Academy and Assistant Dean at Cranmer Theological House. While in Virginia from 2005-2014, he served as the Rector of Holy Trinity Church and teacher of Church History at Trinity Christian School in Fairfax. He also served as Assistant Professor of New Testament at Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Blue Bell, PA from 2011-2013. He holds a BA in Biblical Studies from Southeastern College at Wake Forest, a ThM in Historical and Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, a ThM from Cranmer Theological House and a PhD from Middlesex University. He and his wife Brett have three children and three grandchildren.