In a letter to the Vestry, dated Thursday, March 14, Bishop Paul wrote:
As you know well, it has been our sole
mission since last June to assist the parish in remaining in place and growing
in its service to Christ and his Kingdom. As the transitional vestry, you
have done a great deal of work, and the parish and I are deeply in your debt
both for what you have done and the spirit in which you have done it. Firm,
gentle, and creative, you have restored credibility and transparency to the
parish's operations, and have raised in all of us the awareness that St.
Stephen's has everything it needs to succeed. From the bottom of my heart,
thank you.
My duty now is to appoint a new vicar to lead and serve the parish in
partnership with the transitional vestry, Canon Gerns, and your school and
parish staff. After consultation with you of the vestry and with
awareness of the needs the parish has expressed, I have on March 14 concluded
an agreement with Canon Gerns, Mr. David Billings, and Father Charles Warwick
for Father Warwick to serve the parish as vicar.
In the Episcopal Church, the Vicar serves at the pleasure and direction of the Bishop as his representative.
Father Warwick, of Swoyersville, Pennsylvania, was ordained a Deacon on November 1, 2011 and a priest on May 18, 2012 by Bishop Marshall. He is a 1982 graduate of Kings College, Wilkes-Barre, the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and the Baltimore City Police Academy. He has served as a police officer in the cities of Baltimore, Maryland, and Wilkes-Barre. His specialty was in the area of Police K-9. He has a lifetime appointment as a K-9 Judge for the PA Police K-9 Association and has trained and certified K-9 Teams along the East Coast. He is a licensed US Coast Guard Merchant Marine Captain Master Class, and for 10 years worked in the Wildwood, Cape May New Jersey area. He recently retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Warwick is a 32nd degree Mason, a Knights Templar, Shriner, Elk, Rotarian, an Assistant Fire Chief and serves as a Chaplain to several Fire Depts.
(Warwick was invited to open a session of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in Harrisburg with prayer on Tuesday, April 9.)
He completed his Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, served St. Clement and St. Peter’s Church in Wilkes-Barre as a deacon and as a part-time priest at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in New Milford, PA until his appointment to St. Stephen’s, Whitehall. He is an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross.
Father Charlie is married to Patty, who serves as the organist and choir director at Grace Church in Kingston, and together they have one daughter, Katy, who is in college.
Bishop Paul notes that Father Charlie was selected to this full-time position because of his deep commitment to Christ and particularly because of his enthusiastic love for people. “You get what you see with him, and he is a man of deep personal integrity. He believes the Christian faith and knows Jesus as his Lord. He will be among you in your parish on a daily basis and knows how deeply I am counting on him to be present in the community as St. Stephen's grows. He knows the importance of visiting parishioners, tending the sick, and being your public face in Whitehall and the surrounding area.”
