Background
Gibbs was born, on March 21, 1954, and grew up in Washington, District of Columbia
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Wendell Gibbs
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He enrolled in Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1984, and graduated in 1987 with a Master of Divinity degree.
Career
He has served the Diocese of Michigan since 2000 as its tenth diocesan bishop. Foreign three years, he took classes at Saint Mary"s Seminary and University and lived at a monastery in Maryland. He was ordained a deacon in June 1987 and a priest in December 1987.
Gibbs served as curate at Emmanuel Church in Rockford, Illinois, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, from 1987 until 1989.
He became rector of Saint Andrew"s in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1993. Gibbs served as Dean of the Ohio River Deanery in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio from 1996 until 1999.
Within the diocese, he also served on Diocesan Council, the Board of Examining Chaplains, the Commission on Congregational Life, the Liturgy and Music Commission, the Human Sexuality Task Force, and as Assistant Secretary of Diocesan Convention. During this time, Gibbs served the national church as Deputy to the 1997 General Convention and as President of the Southern Ohio Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians.
Gibbs remained at Saint Andrew"s until being elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Michigan on October 2, 1999.
Gibbs was consecrated bishop on February 5, 2000, and became diocesan bishop when on November 4, 2000, following the retirement of R. Stewart Wood. He is the first African American to serve as bishop of the diocese. Gibbs has previously served the community as a board member for Positive Beginnings Teen Services, Justice Watch, AMOS Project, Melrose Branch Young Men’s Christian Association, People Working Cooperatively, and president of the board of Episcopal Community Services, Detroit.
Gibbs currently serves as co-chair of Michigan for Marriage, and as president of the board of Canterbury House at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
He also currently serves on the boards of Mariners Inn in Detroit, and the National Conference for Community and Justice, Michigan Region.
Membership
As Bishop, he has served as the President of Province V and as a member of the House of Bishops Committee on Racism. He has served the national church as a member of the Recruitment, Training & Deployment Committee of the National Office of Black Ministries, a member of Black Leaders and Diocesan Executives, a mentor for the Organization of Black Episcopal Seminarians, and as a member of the Standing Commission for Liturgy and Music. He has also been a member of the Episcopal Retirement Homes Church Relations Committee, the Evanston Neighborhood Coalition, and the Evanston Weed and Seed Initiative.
