An assistant rector, the Rev. Robert B. Hibbs, was elected Suffragan Bishop of West Texas, Sept. 9, at Texas Military Institute in San Antonio. Fr. Hibbs, 63, assistant rector at Church of the Good Shepherd in Corpus Christi, was elected on the third ballot.

The special council of the diocese was called by the diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. John MacNaughton, who will retire Dec. 31. He will be succeeded by the Rt. Rev. James Folts, bishop coadjutor. It is hoped the consecration for the suffragan bishop will take place Jan. 6, 1996.

The bishop-elect is a native of Philadelphia, and a graduate of Trinity College (Conn.) and General Theological Seminary. Following ordination in 1957, he has been a missionary to the Philippines, where he taught at St. Andrew's Theological Seminary, and served in the Diocese of Northwest Texas as vicar of St. Peter's, Borger, 1972-75, and rector of St. Stephen's, Lubbock, 1975-77. He taught at Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, 1980-83, and moved to West Texas in 1983 as rector of St. Barnabas', Fredericksburg, where he remained until moving to the Corpus Christi parish in 1988.

Fr. Hibbs and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of a son and a daughter, and they have four grandchildren. He has been a deputy to General Convention and has served on the standing committee and executive board in West Texas.

The election had 11 other candidates.