Showing 216 results

William Scarlett was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1883. He began his career in 1911 as dean of Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona, a position he held for eleven years. From 1922 until his election as bishop coadjutor in 1930, he
served as dean of Christ Cathedral in St. Louis. In 1933 he was appointed Bishop of Missouri and became a tireless crusader for social reform, committing the resources of the diocese to helping those left jobless and homeless by the Great Depression. In 1935 the Episcopal City Mission was created to minister to those in the city’s jails. He also revitalized Christian education in the congregations, recognizing that the future of the Church was at stake.

Known as a liberal clergyman, Scarlett championed the idea of church unity and wanted cooperation among all denominations. He was one of the founders of the St. Louis Chapter of the Conference of Christians and Jews and was invited to share ownership of St. Luke’s Hospital with the Presbyterians. As president of the Urban League of St. Louis, he sought to make his community aware of problems in race relations. While on the national board of the Urban League and American Civil Liberties Union, Scarlett advocated for the equal rights of blacks long before the issue was addressed by the institutional church. He retired in 1952 and was succeeded by Bishop Lichtenberger.

William Scarlett died in Castine, Maine on March 28, 1973.

Elizabeth Griffin was born on January 23, 1890 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Prior to becoming a missionary, she attended Atlantic Collegiate Institute, graduating with a business degree in 1907, and worked as a secretary and bookkeeper.

From 1931 to 1955, she served as the treasurer of the Missionary Diocese of the Philippines. In 1942, she was captured and placed in a Japanese-run internment camp at Los Baños Agricultural College where she remained until her rescue in 1945. After a year’s rest in New Bern, North Carolina, she returned to the Philippines and continued her missionary duties, which lasted another twenty-five years.

Ms. Griffin retired on August 1, 1955 and returned to New Bern, where she was active in the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) at Christ Church.

Elizabeth Griffin died on September 25, 1968.

William White, the first Bishop of Pennsylvania (1787-1836), was born into a wealthy and prominent family in Philadelphia in 1748. He was educated at the College of Philadelphia, where he eventually received his Doctor of Divinity degree. Ordained deacon in 1770 and priest in 1772, White became first assistant minister and then rector of Christ Church and St. Peter’s in Philadelphia, a position in which he served for the remainder of his life. He also served as chaplain of the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War, president of the first and fourth General Conventions, and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America from 1795 until his death in 1836. Additionally, White played a leading role in many civic organizations and educational institutions such as the Philadelphia Bible Society, the American Philosophical Society, and the General Theological Seminary.

Bishop White was a critical figure in the formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church, contributing not only as a talented organizer and a pragmatic reconciler between differing opinions, but also as a proponent of constitutional law and republican forms of government. His accepted recommendations for the Church constitution that included the establishment of The Episcopal Church as a self-governing and independent ecclesiastical body, the inclusion of laity with equal representation as clergy in governing bodies, and the right of dioceses to elect their own bishops. In addition, he proposed a new Prayer Book and planned for obtaining the episcopate from the English bishops that would extend the line of apostolic succession to America without requiring bishops to swear allegiance to the King of England.