Williams, Channing Moore

(July 18, 1829-Dec. 2, 1910). Missionary Bishop to China and Japan. He was born in Richmond, Virginia. Williams received the M.A. degree from the College of William and Mary in 1852. He graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1855, and was ordained deacon on July 1, 1855. In Nov. 1855 he sailed for Shanghai to do missionary work. He was ordained priest on Jan. 11, 1857. On Feb. 14, 1859, Williams and John Liggins were appointed the first Episcopal missionaries to Japan, and Williams reached Nagasaki on July 1, 1859. On Oct. 3, 1866, he was consecrated the second Missionary Bishop of China with jurisdiction over Japan. On Oct. 23, 1874, the House of Bishops constituted Japan a missionary district and named it the Missionary District of Yedo. On that same day Williams relinquished China and became Missionary Bishop of Yedo. He resigned this position on Oct. 18, 1889, but continued to work in Japan until 1908. He died in Richmond, Virginia. His work and ministry is commemorated in the Episcopal calendar of the church year on Dec. 2.