The following are answers to questions asked of our Bishop Elect, The Reverend Scott A. Benhase, by Christ Church Episcopal.

We hope you will find them informative and trust they will give us all a greater appreciation for our new bishop.

CCE: Which historical Christian leader, other than Jesus, do you admire most and why?

Response: That’s a tie: Augustine of Hippo and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Both in their day remained faithful and clear in their discipleship even in harrowing times. For Augustine it was the fall of Rome; for Bonheoffer is was the Nazi menace.

CCE: What past leader of The Episcopal Church do you admire most and why?

Response: Bishop John Henry Hobart, the late Bishop of New York, who advised a young priest: “Be sure that in all your preaching the doctrines of the Cross be introduced: no preaching is good for any thing without these.”

CCE: What three traits do you admire most in a leader?

Response: Clarity of vision; staying connected to people; humility

CCE: You have spent much of your career in the south, with parishes in Durham, NC and Charlottesville, VA. What appeals most to you about returning to the south?

Response: When I say “hey” to someone I pass on the street, which inevitably I do, I am looking forward to a return smile and a “hey,” as opposed to what I often get now, which is a strange look from the person as he/she hurries away.

CCE: Where did you and your wife of twenty-five years, Kelly, grow up?

Response: I grew up in southern Ohio along the River. Kelly grew up in Tallahassee.

CCE: How did you meet Kelly?

Response: We met in the Pine Mountains of Kentucky in the summer of 1978. I was a Center Director for the Appalachia Service Project and she was placed on my staff by the Executive Director. I was her boss. Times change.

CCE: Tell us about your children?

Response: John (age 22) is a manager for Starbuck’s, Charley (age 19) is a freshman at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia; and Mary Grace (age 16) is a Junior at Wilson Senior High School in Washington, DC. They are just wonderful.

CCE: What is the best non religious book you have read in the last twelve months?

Response: Payback by Margaret Atwood

CCE: Do you have a favorite popular music group or artist?

Response: It is tough to choose one, but I’d say John Prine. Kelly and I went to see him in concert last May to celebrate our 25th Anniversary.

CCE: What is your favorite bible verse?

Response: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

CCE: What is your favorite hymn?

Response: “Come Thou Fount of every Blessing“  (Click on the hymn’s name to hear it sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

CCE: What can we do to assist you in assuming your new role as our bishop?

Response: Love Jesus, serve him in the streets, and invite others to join you.