Before you read the tables below, it might be helpful to define some terms.
A bishop is the supervisor of clergy and laity within a certain area (diocese). It’s the third order of ordained ministry; from the Greek word episcopos, meaning ‘overseer’. A bishop traditionally is chosen from among the priests and is ordained to the episcopate by three other bishops to preserve the apostolic succession and to ensure continuity with church teachings.
A diocesan bishop is the chief administrators of a diocese. A suffragan bishop is an assistant bishop who has been elected to that position. A bishop coadjutor is also an assistant bishop who is elected, but with the right of succession. An assisting bishop is someone who is already a bishop, and who is appointed to help a diocesan bishop or who acts in an interim capacity during the absence of a diocesan bishop. The presiding bishop is the chief bishop of a national church, sometimes called a primate or archbishop.
In the rosters below, the number in parentheses after a bishop’s name refers to the rank in succession from the first American bishop, Samuel Seabury.
| Number in the succession of American bishops and Name of Diocesan | Born/Died | Served | |
|
I
|
John Croes (16) | 1762–1832 | 1815–1832 |
|
II
|
George Washington Doane (29) | 1799–1859 | 1832–1859 |
|
III
|
William Henry Odenheimer (66) | 1817–1879 | 1859–1874 |
|
IV
|
John Scarborough (111) | 1831–1914 | 1875–1914 |
|
V
|
Paul Matthews (278) | 1866–1954 | 1915–1937 |
|
VI
|
Wallace John Gardner (395) | 1883–1954 | 1937–1954 |
|
VII
|
Alfred Lothian Banyard (459) | 1908–1992 | 1955–1973* |
|
VIII
|
Albert Wiencke Van Duzer (614) | 1917–1999 | 1973–1982* |
|
IX
|
George Phelps Mellick Belshaw (702) | 1928– | 1983–1994* |
|
X
|
Joe Morris Doss (886) | 1943– | 1995–2002* |
|
t
|
vacant | t | 2002–2003 |
|
XI
|
George Edward Councell (990) | 1949– | 2003–2013 |
|
XII
|
William H. Stokes (1078) | 1957– | 2013– |
*See list of other bishops
| Other Bishops | Title | Born – Died | Consecrated | Served |
| Albion W. Knight (224) | Coadjutor | 1859–1936 | 1904 | 1923–1935 |
| Ralph E. Urban (384) | Suffragan | 1875–1935 | 1932 | 1932–1935 |
| Alfred Lothian Banyard^ | Suffragan | 1908–1992 | 1945 | 1945–1955 |
| Albert Wiencke Van Duzer^ | Suffragan | 1917–1999 | 1966 | 1966–1972 |
| g | Coadjutor | g | g | 1972–1973 |
| George Phelps Mellick Belshaw^ | Suffragan | 1928–928 | 1975 | 1975–1982 |
| g | Coadjutor | g | g | 1982–1983 |
| Vincent King Pettit (781) | Suffragan | 1924–2006 | 1984 | 1984–1991 |
| Joe Morris Doss^ | Coadjutor | 1943– | 1993 | 1993–1994 |
| Herbert A. Donovan, Jr. (748) | Assisting | 1931– | 1980 | 1999–2000 |
| David Bruce Joslin (871) | Assisting | 1936– | 1991 | 2000–2003 |
| Sylvestre Donate Romero | Assisting; then Assistant | 1944– | 1994 | 2007; 2008-2010 |
^See list of diocesans
