A former Erie bishop officiated at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe led the service at Washington National Cathedral.

Rowe was elected Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church in June at the age of 49 and began his nine-year term Nov. 1.

A native of Hermitage, he was elected as Bishop of the Erie-based Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, which includes Bradford and the Church of the Ascension – in 2007.

Prior to that he served as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin for seven years.

From 2019 until his departure, he led a partnership between the Episcopal Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York.

In a statement on the Episcopal Church’s website, Rowe called Carter “a devoted peacemaker and steadfast public servant whose faithful labor for his country, his church, and the cause of global democracy and human rights has long been an inspiration to Christians across the world.”