EpiSCOPE: Not the Bishop

EpiSCOPE

Not the Bishop

Note: Jan Nunley has done a masterful job of compiling the history of those clergymen who were elected bishop but did not get the required consents. It's fascinating reading.

EpiSCOPE has tons of good stuff like this. Go over and visit. You won't be disappointed.


Jan writes: We've had some questions about this from reporters recently, so with the help of some of the Episcopal Church's most formidable researchers*, we've compiled a list of folks who, for various reasons, were chosen for but did not become bishops.

It comes in two parts: "Clergymen whose election or nomination was not confirmed," and "Clergymen who declined their own election to the episcopate." (They're all men.)

These lists do not include clergy who were elected and confirmed but not consecrated.

*Thanks especially to Lionel Deimel and J. Robert Wright.



Clergymen whose election or nomination was not confirmed:

1783. The Rev. William Smith, D.D. Elected Bishop of Maryland. He went to England for consecration, but his election having been pronounced defective, consecration was refused. He was charged with intoxication at the General Convention of 1785, and censured by the House of Deputies in 1786.

1795. The Rev. Samuel Peters. Elected Bishop of Vermont. General Convention refused to accept testimonials on the ground that Vermont had not acceded to the constitution of the national church. There were questions as to the character of Peters, who was resident in England at the time.

1798/1801. The Rev. Uzal Ogden. Elected twice as Bishop of New Jersey. General Convention of 1799 refused to accept testimonials on the grounds that an insufficient number of canonical clergy participated in the election. Testimonials were referred back to the diocese. Ogden was re-elected and General Convention 1801 again refused to confirm his election because of questions as to his "loyalty to the teachings of this Church." He was known as an extreme Evangelical and eventually became a Presbyterian.

1841. The Rev. N. H. Cobbs. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Texas by the House of Bishops. The House of Deputies declared by resolution that it was “inexpedient to go into an election at that time,” and no further action was taken.

1844. The Rev. Francis Lister Hawks. Elected Bishop of Mississippi. After debate in the House of Deputies, it was unanimously voted to “suspend all proceedings until a future Convention of Mississippi should declare their sense on the subject.” He had been charged with financial misconduct, but was exonerated. Dr. Hawks refused to allow his name before the convention again.

1847. The Rev. James Britton. Elected assistant bishop of Illinois. General Convention 1847 refused confirmation on the grounds that his testimonials did not conform to the canonical requirements.

1856. The Rev. Jacob L. Clark. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Nebraska and Kansas. The House of Deputies declined to act upon the nomination.

1865. The Rev. Milton C. Lightner. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Colorado. His election was not confirmed by the Deputies.

1865. The Rev. Robert J. Parvin. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Nevada. His election was not confirmed by the Deputies.

1871. The Rev. William H. Hare. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas with jurisdiction in West Africa. Nomination was withdrawn at the request of the Board of Foreign Missions.

1874/1875. The Rev. James De Koven. Elected Bishop of Wisconsin, then Illinois. Rejected twice by the Standing Committees, not by General Convention. In 1874 he was elected Bishop of Wisconsin, and in 1875 Bishop of Illinois, but because he was "controversial" (DeKoven was a “ritualist” or Anglo-Catholic) he failed both times to have his election ratified by a majority of Bishops and a majority of Standing Committees of Dioceses, as required by canon law. See http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/03/22.html.

1874. The Rev. George Franklin Seymour. Elected Bishop of Illinois. Not confirmed because of his "high" (Anglo-Catholic) theological views. The diocese was later divided and he was elected, confirmed and consecrated Bishop of the new Diocese of Springfield in 1878.

1875. The Rev. J. H. Eccleston. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Doubts as to validity of election. Declined.

1892. The Rev. Frederick R. Graves. Nominated for Shanghai but rejected by the House of Deputies. The record is unclear why, but in June 1893 he was nevertheless consecrated Bishop of Shanghai.

1898. The Rev. George Calvin Hall. Nominated for Kyoto but rejected.

1912. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Kansas. Not confirmed because he was divorced. Later elected Bishop Coadjutor of Texas, then Wyoming, but declined both.

1932. The Very Rev. John Williamson. Elected Bishop of Arkansas. House of Bishops declined to confirm due to racism in the election process.

1934. The Rev. John Torok. Nominated for Bishop Suffragan of Eau Claire. Rejected by General Convention. Torok, who was Hungarian, was consecrated bishop in Vienna in the Eastern Rite Catholic tradition and received as an Episcopal priest by the Bishop of Maryland. In 1934, the Bishop of Eau Claire asked General Convention to make him suffragan, which was done. He appears to have been rejected by General Convention the next year. Apparently, the House of Bishops said that he could serve, but without performing episcopal rites. Bishop Wilson received Torok at his cathedral in November 1935, but the House of Bishops declared this improper in its meeting in Evanston in December 1936. (See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848273,00.html and http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788599,00.html.) Both the Diocese of Eau Claire and the Episcopal Church Archives have volumes of materials on Torok.

Clergymen who declined their own election to the episcopate:

1783. The Rev. Jeremiah Leaming and the Rev. Samuel Seabury were both chosen by a Committee of the Clergy of the Diocese, to the Episcopate of Connecticut. Mr. Leaming declined.

1785. The Rev. Thomas B. Chandler. Elected Bishop of Nova Scotia. Declined.

1786. The Rev. David Griffith. Elected Bishop of Virginia. Declined.

1787. The Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, D.D. Elected Bishop-Coadjutor of Connecticut. Declined.

1794. The Rev. Charles Pettigrew. Elected Bishop of North Carolina. Declined.

1796. The Rev. John Bowden, D.D. Elected Bishop of Connecticut. Declined.

1804. The Rev. Edward Jenkins, D.D. Elected Bishop of South Carolina. Declined.

1812. The Rev. John Bracken, D.D. Elected Bishop of Virginia. Declined.

1815. The Rev. John Croes. Elected Bishop of Connecticut. Declined.

1835. The Rev. Francis L. Hawks. Elected Missionary Bishop in the State of Louisiana, and in the Territories of Arkansas and Florida. Declined.

1838. The Rev. Alonzo Potter. Elected Assistant Bishop of Massachusetts. Declined.

1838. The Rev. Manton Eastburn. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.

1838. The Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, Missionary Bishop of the Northwest. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.

1839. The Rev. Benjamin Dorr. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.

1841. The Rev. John A. Vaughan. Elected Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas. Declined.

1843. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.

1844. The Rev. Alexander Glennie. Elected Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas. Declined.

1847. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.

1847. The Rev. Samuel Bowman. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.

1849. The Rev. Francis Vinton. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.

1852. The Rev. Francis L. Hawks. Elected Bishop of Rhode Island. Declined.

1854. The Rev. William Creighton. Elected Provisional Bishop of New York. Declined.

1855. The Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe. Elected Bishop of Texas. Declined.

1856. The Rev. Sullivan H. Weston. Elected Bishop of Texas. Declined.

1859. The Rev. Jacob L. Clark. Elected Missionary Bishop of the Northwest. Declined.

1860. The Rev. Heman Dyer. Elected Bishop of Kansas. Declined.

1865. The Rev. M.A. DeWolfe Howe. Elected Missionary Bishop of Nevada. Declined.

1866. The Rev. F. D. Huntington. Elected Bishop of Maine. Declined.

1868. The Rev. B. H. Paddock. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Oregon and Washington Territory. Declined.

1869. The Rev. A.N. Littlejohn. Elected Bishop of Central New York. Declined.

1873. The Rev. Benjamin I. Haight. Elected Bishop of Massachusetts. Declined.

1874. The Rev. Leighton Coleman. Elected Bishop of Fond du Lac. Declined.

1875. The Rev. W. R. Huntington. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Declined.

1875. The Rev. Henry C. Potter. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Declined.

1875. The Rev. W.H. Clarke. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas, with jurisdiction in West Africa. Declined.

1875. The Rev. Samuel I.J. Schereschewsky. Elected Missionary Bishop of Shanghai, with jurisdiction in China. Declined.

1875. The Rev. John T. Magrath. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas, with jurisdiction in West Africa. Declined.

1875. The Rev. J.S. Shipman. Elected Bishop of Fond du Lac. Declined.

1877. The Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker. Elected Missionary Bishop of New Mexico and Arizona. Declined.

1877. The Rev. S. S. Harris. Elected Bishop of Quincy. Declined.

1877. The Rev. J.H. Eccleston. Elected Bishop of West Virginia. Declined.

1878. The Rev. George F. Seymour. Elected Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. Declined.

1880. The Rev. William A. Leonard. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Montana. Declined.

1883. The Rev. Isaac L. Nicholson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.

1883. The Rev. George Worthington. Elected Missionary Bishop to China. Declined.

1913. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of Texas. Declined.

1927. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop of Wyoming. Declined.

1938. The Very Rev. Claude W. Sprouse. Elected Bishop of Arkansas. Declined.

1950. The Rev. David E. Richards. Elected Bishop Suffragan of Albany. Declined
(withdrew). Elected again in 1951, confirmed and consecrated.

NB: Added by Joan R. Gundersen of Pittsburgh:

David Griffiths was elected bishop of Virginia in 1787 and tried for two years to raise the funds to go England for consecration. Discouraged and very ill, he notified the Virginia state convention that he was resigning the election. Griffith then went to Philadelphia to participate in the General Convention, but died at William White's house before he could attend.

John Bracken was elected bishop in 1812. Bracken was one of the most senior members of the clergy in Virginia and the President of the College of William and Mary. However, he was opposed by three young members of the convention, Edmund Lee, Rev. William Wilmer and the Rev. William Meade (later himself Bishop of VA). They browbeat Bracken into sending a letter resigning from his election at the 1813 convention. This cleared the way for them to manuever to have the younger and more evangelical Richard Channing Moore elected..

The list also misses two men who declined election as Co-Adjutor in Virginia.The Rev. Berryman Green was elected in December 1908 but declined and antoher was elected in 1909. That person resigned in 1910 and Green was again elected Coadjutor of Virginia in February 1911. He again declined. Virginia then elected in May 1911 the Rev. Robert Saunders Coupland who also declined. Bishop Robert Gibson gave up trying to get help for several years.

http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/episcope/2007/03/not_the_bishop.html#more