The Rev. John L. Rabb, rector of St. Anne's Church, Atlanta, was elected Bishop Suffragan of Maryland March 28 at Hood College in Frederick, Md., becoming only the third suffragan in the 206-year history of the diocese.

Fr. Rabb, 53, was elected on the third ballot. He was rector of Holy Apostles', Arbutus, Md., from 1979 to 1988, leaving that cure when he was called to the Atlanta parish. In Atlanta, Fr. Rabb has been prominent in the struggle for racial justice and in the Atlanta Religious Mobilization Against Crime.

A graduate of DePauw University and the Episcopal Divinity School, Fr. Rabb is married, his wife Sharon having been a social worker for Maryland's Episcopal Social Ministries in the 1980s. They are the parents of two daughters, Alison and Jennifer.

Others nominated were: the Rev. Eddie M. Blue, rector of Holy Trinity, Baltimore; the Rev. Frances Fosbroke, rector of Redemption, Baltimore; the Rev. Melford E. Holland, Jr., clergy deployment officer and bishop's assistant for ministry of the Diocese of Pennsylvania; and the Rev. Canon Nancy A. Roosevelt, canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Rochester. A sixth nominee, the Very Rev. Sandra A. Wilson, rector of St. Thomas', Denver, Colo., withdrew two weeks before the election.

Following his consecration, Fr. Rabb will assist the diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff. Suffragan Bishop Charles L. Longest retired last November.