African Descent Ministries

Black Bishops in The Episcopal Church 1874-Present

Over the past 145 years there have been 50 Black Bishops consecrated in The Episcopal Church.  These Bishops hail from the African Diaspora, as well as Africa. The African Diaspora includes those people of African descent living throughout the world in the United States, the Caribbean, Central America and other countries.

All Bishops are assigned a number by the Secretary of the House of Bishops according to their date of consecration.  Bishop James Theodore Holly was the first Black Episcopal Bishop consecrated November 8, 1874, first Bishop of Haiti, number 106a. 

People of African descent have a long proud heritage in The Episcopal Church. The following biographical sketches of the Black Episcopal Bishops provide a framework for the role that Black Bishops have played in the community in general and The Episcopal Church in particular.

Ketlen A. Solak
#1138 Consecrated November 13, 2021
Deon Johnson
#1133 Consecrated June 13, 2020
Shannon MacVean-Brown
#1122 Consecrated September 28, 2019
Kimberly (Kym) Lucas
#1117 Consecrated May 18, 2019
Phoebe A. Roaf
#1116 Consecrated May 4, 2019
Carlye J. Hughes
#1109 Consecrated September 22, 2018
Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
#1100 Consecrated April 29, 2017
Carl Wright
#1098 Consecrated February 11, 2017
Robert C. Wright
#1069 Consecrated October 13, 2012
Ogé Beauvoir
#1064 Consecrated May 22, 2012
Eugene Taylor Sutton
#1030 Consecrated June 28, 2008
Nathan D. Baxter
#1010 Consecrated October 22, 2006
Edward Ambrose Gumbs
#1003 Consecrated June 11, 2005
Gayle Elizabeth Harris
#981 Consecrated January 18, 2003
Lloyd Emmanuel Allen
#971 Consecrated October 20, 2001
Michael Bruce Curry
#955 Consecrated June 17, 2000
Wendell Nathaniel Gibbs, Jr.
#950 Consecrated February 5, 2000
Theodore Althelbert Daniels
#931 Consecrated June 30, 1997
Jean Zaché Duracin
#881 Consecrated June 2, 1993
Victor Alfonso Scantlebury
#864 Consecrated March 15, 1991
Chester Lovell Talton
#861 Consecrated January 26, 1991
Barbara Clementine Harris
#834 Consecrated February 11, 1989
Franklin Delton Turner
#831 Consecrated October 7, 1988
Herbert Thompson, Jr.
#829 Consecrated September 24, 1988
Orris George Walker, Jr.
#826 Consecrated April 9, 1988
Egbert Don Taylor
#819 Consecrated February 24, 1987
Arthur Benjamin Williams, Jr.
#812 Consecrated October 11, 1986
Sturdie Wayman Downs
#793 Consecrated February 9, 1985
James Hamilton Ottley
#779 Consecrated June 24, 1984
Clarence Nicholas Coleridge
#763 Consecrated October 23, 1981
Henry Boyd Hucles, III
#760 Consecrated June 20, 1981
Walter Decoster Dennis
#734 Consecrated October 6, 1979
Henry Irving Mayson
#716 Consecrated October 9, 1976
Harold Louis Wright
#694 Consecrated February 2, 1974
Quintin Ebenezer Primo, Jr.
#683 Consecrated September 20, 1972
Telèsforo Alexander Isaac
#678 Consecrated March 9, 1972
Lemuel Barnett Shirley
#675 Consecrated February 19, 1972
John Thomas Walker
#664 Consecrated June 29, 1971
Luc Anatole Jacques Garnier
#660 Consecrated April 20, 1971
George Daniel Browne
#652 Consecrated August 6, 1970
Richard Beamon Martin
#620 Consecrated February 2, 1967
Cedric Earl Mills
#593 Consecrated April 19, 1963
John Melville Burgess
#590 Consecrated December 8, 1962
Dillard Houston Brown
#580 Consecrated January 6, 1961
Bravid Washington Harris
#451 Consecrated April 17, 1945
Theophilus Momolu Firah Gardiner
#318 ​​​​​​​Consecrated June 23, 1921
Henry Beard Delany
#298 ​​​​​​​Consecrated November 19, 1918
Edward Thomas Demby
#296 Consecrated September 29, 1918
Samuel David Ferguson
#139 Consecrated June 24, 1885
James Theodore Holly
#106a Consecrated November 8, 1874

Contact:
The Rev. Canon Ronald C. Byrd Sr.

Missioner for African Descent Ministries

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