[1] He was ordained deacon on June 4, 1971, and priest on December 1, 1971, by Bishop William H. Marmion of Southern Virginia.
In 1980 he became Archdeacon in the Diocese of Maine, and then between 1983 and 1989 he was rector of St Andrew's Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
[2] On February 11, 1989, Warner was elected coadjutor bishop of Olympia on the first ballot during a special convention held at St. Mark's Cathedral.
He was then consecrated on July 8, 1989 at the Climate Center Arena by Bishop Robert H. Cochrane of Olympia.
[6][7] In 2011, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop, restricted Warner from the exercise of his ministry during an investigation into a "credible allegation of recurrent marital infidelity.