William Godsell Wright Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
William Godsell Wright
Honorific Suffix:D.D.
Elected:1959
Term:1960–1972
Retired:-->
Predecessor:William F. Lewis
Successor:Wesley Frensdorff
Ordination:December 1930
Ordained By:Edward Campion Acheson
Consecration:February 4, 1960
Consecrated By:Arthur C. Lichtenberger
Birth Date:13 March 1904
Birth Place:Greenville, Illinois, United States
Religion:Anglican
Parents:William Clifford Wright and Edith Browning
Children:2
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William Godsell Wright (March 13, 1904 August 4, 1973) was an Episcopal prelate who served as Bishop of Nevada from 1960 to 1972.

Education

Wright was born on March 13, 1904, in Greenville, Illinois, the son of William Clifford Wright and Edith Browning. He was educated in the public school of Corpus Christi, Texas and then at the Greenville High School. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in 1927 and later from the General Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1930. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from Daniel Baker College in 1952. [1] [2]

Ordained Ministry

Wright was ordained deacon in April 1930 by Bishop John Chanler White of Springfield and priest in December 1930 by Bishop Edward Campion Acheson of Connecticut. After ordination, he became assistant minister at St Paul's Church in New Haven, Connecticut from 1930 until 1933 and then rector of Trinity Church in Newtown, Connecticut between 1933 and 1938. Later he transferred to Trinity Church in Wethersfield, Connecticut where he served as rector from 1938 to 1940. In 1941 he became associate rector of St Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and later as rector of St Clement's Church in El Paso, Texas in 1943. In 1953, he also became the director of the National Council's Home Department.[3]

Bishop

In 1959 Wright was elected missionary Bishop of Nevada. He was consecrated on February 4, 1960, by presiding Bishop Arthur C. Lichtenberger in Trinity Church in Reno, Nevada. During his time in Nevada, four new Episcopal churches were established in the state. He was also the first diocesan bishop of Nevada after the diocese was created in 1971. He retired by the end of 1971.[4]

Notes and References

  1. . 1956. WRIGHT, William Godsell . The Clerical Directory of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 453.
  2. . 1941 . WRIGHT, William Godsell . Stowe's Clerical Directory of the American Episcopal Church . 320.
  3. . 1 February 1953 . William Wright Accepts. . 7.
  4. . 3 January 1960 . Consecration Ordered . . 7.