Bishops of the Diocese of New Jersey

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*
	vacant		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
	Coadjutor			1972–1973
George Phelps Mellick Belshaw^	Suffragan	1928–928	1975	1975–1982
	Coadjutor			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

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