10 notable Christian ministry leaders, influencers who died in 2024

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, December 27, 2024

Jack Leo Iker – Oct. 5, 2024

Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, of the Anglican Church in North America. | Diocese of Fort Worth

Jack Leo Iker, a former bishop who led a Texas-based diocese in leaving The Episcopal Church over its support for same-sex marriage and helped launch the Anglican Church in North America, died at 75.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Iker served as a church rector in Florida before he was consecrated as bishop coadjutor for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth in April 1993 and later became bishop of the Fort Worth Diocese on Jan. 1, 1995.

Iker is credited with helping to found ACNA, a theologically conservative denomination that became the home for many congregations that left The Episcopal Church over its theologically liberal direction.

“God only knows how many people he positively influenced with his faith, courage, steadfastness, but perhaps above all, his love for the people under his care and his humor in the goodness of this life,” wrote Fr. Mark Polley, rector and dean at St. Vincent’s Cathedral of Bedford, Texas, in a statement.

“To say that he is loved and will be missed would be a huge understatement. Rest well, Bishop. I can't thank you enough for your ministry and your years of love and support, both personally, and for global Anglicanism.”