Robert Carter Jett Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
Robert Carter Jett
Honorific Suffix:D.D., LL.D.
Bishop of Southwestern Virginia
Church:Episcopal Church
Diocese:Southwestern Virginia
Elected:December 10, 1919
Term:1920–1938
Retired:-->
Successor:Henry D. Phillips
Ordination:1890
Ordained By:Alfred Magill Randolph
Consecration:March 24, 1920
Consecrated By:Daniel S. Tuttle
Birth Date:10 May 1865
Birth Place:King George County, Virginia, United States
Death Place:Roanoke, Virginia, United States
Buried:Evergreen Burial Park
Religion:Anglican
Parents:William Newton Jett & Virginia Mitchell
Children:2

Robert Carter Jett (May 10, 1865  - August 9, 1950) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia from 1920 to 1938.

Early life and education

Jett was born May 10, 1865, in King George County, Virginia, the son of William Newton Jett and Virginia Mitchell. he was educated at the public and private schools. he also studied at the Virginia Theological Seminary from where he graduated in 1889. He was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Washington and Lee University in 1915.[1]

Ordained ministry

Jett was ordained deacon in 1898 by Bishop Francis McNeece Whittle and priest in 1890 by Bishop Alfred Magill Randolph.[2] He served as assistant at Epiphany Church in Danville, Virginia from 1889 to 1890, and then became rector of Beckford Parish in Shenandoah County, Virginia from 1890 to 1893. In 1893 he became the first rector of Emmanuel Church in Staunton, Virginia, a post he retained till 1913 when he resigned to organize and eventually establish the Virginia Episcopal School, of which he served as its first rector from 1916 to 1920.[3]

Bishop

On December 10, 1920, Jett was elected the first Bishop of Southwestern Virginia. He was consecrated on March 24, 1920, in Trinity Church, Staunton, Virginia, by Presiding Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle.[4] In the first year of his episcopacy, Jett established a diocesan newspaper. He was deeply involved in community activities as an integral part of Christian commitment. Jett worked tirelessly, patiently, and faithfully to carry on the evangelical and missionary tradition of the Church in Virginia. He did his work well, and he left behind him a strong and well-grounded diocese. He retired on May 17, 1938.

Notes and References

  1. . 1948 . Jett, Rt Rev. Robert Carter. World Biography . 1. 2434.
  2. . 1920 . Jett, Robert Carter, D.D.. The Living Church Annual . 87.
  3. . 1951 . The Right Reverend Robert Carter Jett, D.D., LL.D.. Journal of the Annual Council . 74.
  4. . 1927 . Jett, Robert Carter. Who's who in the South . 393.