Let us pray:
O God of grace and glory, we remember before You our
brother in Christ and former bishop Frederick Houk Borsch. We thank You for giving him to us to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage, and as a loving bishop of souls. In Your boundless compassion, grant consolation to Barbara, his wife, to his children and family, and to our Diocesan family as we mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue our course on earth, until, by Your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bishop Borsch
“Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to the One who is the help of my countenance, and my God.” Psalm 43:6
Frederick Houk Borsch
September 13, 1935 – April 11, 2017
The Right Reverend Frederick Houk Borsch died early on Tuesday of Holy Week from a form of leukemia. He was 81 years old.
Bishop Borsch served as the Fifth Bishop to the Diocese of Los Angeles from 1988 – 2002, matching his erudition and intellectual qualities with warmth and accessible affability.
Educated at Princeton, Oxford and the General Theological Seminary, his Ph.D. degree in New Testament studies was from the University of Birmingham in England. He held teaching posts in England, at Seabury-Western Seminary, and at the General Theological Seminary prior to becoming Dean and President of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, where he served until his 1988 election as the Fifth Bishop of Los Angeles.
Bishop Borsch returned to academics after concluding fourteen years at the helm of the Diocese of Los Angeles, serving as Professor of New Testament and Chair of Anglican Studies at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
Contributor of essays, articles and poetry to a number of journals and newspapers, he was the author or editor of some twenty books.
The clergy of the Diocese of Los Angeles were told of +Fred’s death as they gathered for the annual Holy Tuesday Renewal of Vows at the Cathedral Center April 11th. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.
“Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to Your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that You are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Amen.
