The Right Reverend Samir H. Kafity, Bishop in Residence in Poway, was born in Haifa. He received a Dip. Th. from the Near East School of Theology and his BA from the American University of Beirut. He also holds a D.D. from Dickinson College, an S.T.D. from Virginia Theological Seminary and a D.D. from the University of Kent. He served as Executive Secretary of the Diocesan Council from 1976-1982; in 1982 he was ordained Bishop and on January 6, 1984 he was installed as the twelfth diocesan Bishop in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Bishop Kafity opened and dedicated St. Margaret?s Hostel in Nazareth, a hostel and conference center for pilgrims. He also succeeded in renovating and building an extra wing at Saint Luke?s Hospital and the Arab Evangelical Hospital in Nablus, as well as at the Ahli Hospital in Gaza, both hospitals serving a large Palestinian refugee population.

Bishop Kafity is an honorary Life President of the Middle East Council of Churches which comprises 14 million Christians of the Middle East. He has also served under Prince Hassan of Jordan on the Hashemite Commission in Jerusalem.

Bishop Kafity is co-founder of the San Diego Christian-Muslim Dialogue group, along with Jewish scholar and professor Maurice Friedman. He has held the title of Bishop-in-Residence in Poway, California since his retirement in 1998.