Our Diocesan Bishop Ordinary of the Western States is the Right Reverend Donald M. Ashman. Bishop Ashman was consecrated Bishop Ordinary for the Diocese of the Western States at St. Peter’s Parish in Oakland, California on April 23, 2016.
In addition to being our Bishop Ordinary, Bishop Ashman is also the Rector of The Church of Our Saviour and The Holy Apostles in Los Angeles, California, and of the Parochial Mission, the Church of the Holy Apostles in Glendale, California. In 1985, he began a continuing ministry at the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California. In 1987, he founded the Church of Our Saviour in Santa Barbara, California. He has also served on the Board of Examining Chaplains and the Standing Committee.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Bishop Ashman graduated from Glendale College and California State University, Long Beach, with a degree in history. He did graduate work in the classics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also earned his teaching credential.
Something very special happens as we celebrate the Eucharist at St. Ann Chapel—and it is in large part because of the gifts that our Vicar, Fr. Matthew L. Weber, brings. With his reverence for the liturgy and his professional singing voice, he imparts beauty and holiness to the celebration of Mass. Fr. Weber is a native of Dayton, Ohio, and an accomplished musician. He received his bachelor’s degree in music history and literature from Wright State University and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he studied historical musicology. Fr. Weber received his bachelor of sacred theology from St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Province of Christ the King in 2007.
Following his ordination, Fr. Weber served as Vicar at St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Church in Berkeley. In 2010, he became our Vicar at St. Ann Chapel. Fr. Weber is very active in the Province and, in addition to serving as Vicar at St. Ann, he also teaches liturgics at the St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College in Berkeley.
After 40 years of experience in the engineering industry, Fr. Glenn W. Karcher finally heeded God’s call to pursue the priesthood. Fr. Karcher is a Bay Area native spending most of his life in Belmont. He attended Serra High School after which he earned an Electronics Engineering degree from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he married his wife, Carol, in 1976. After moving to Dallas, Texas, Fr. Karcher continued his education to earn a Master’s degree in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas. It was during that time that he joined the Episcopal Church, singing in the choir and serving as an acolyte. His family moved to the Boston area where they attended the Church of the Advent where he continued his singing and acolyte duties in High Church environment. After he and his family returned back to Belmont, they searched around for a Church that held to the Anglo-Catholic faith and found it in the APCK.
It was at the end of 2016 that circumstances led to an early retirement which resulted in the opportunity to pursue Holy Orders, something that he had been thinking about for over thirty years. Fr. Karcher completed his studies at St. Joseph of Arimathea Theological College and was ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Province of Christ the King on December 18, 2021, and is now Curate at St. Ann Chapel.
