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) | 1762β1832 | 1815β1832 |
II
|
George Washington Doane (29) | 1799β1859 | 1832β1859 |
III
|
William Henry Odenheimer (66) | 1817β1879 | 1859β1874 |
IV
|
John Scarborough (111) | 1831β1914 | 1875β1914 |
V
|
Paul Matthews (278) | 1866β1954 | 1915β1937 |
VI
|
Wallace John Gardner (395) | 1883β1954 | 1937β1954 |
VII
|
Alfred Lothian Banyard (459) | 1908β1992 | 1955β1973* |
VIII
|
Albert Wiencke Van Duzer (614) | 1917β1999 | 1973β1982* |
IX
|
George Phelps Mellick Belshaw (702) | 1928β | 1983β1994* |
X
|
Joe Morris Doss (886) | 1943β | 1995β2002* |
t
|
vacant | t | 2002β2003 |
XI
|
George Edward Councell (990) | 1949β | 2003β2013 |
XII
|
William H. Stokes (1078) | 1957β | 2013β |
*See list of other bishops
Other Bishops | Title | Born β Died | Consecrated | Served |
Albion W. Knight (224) | Coadjutor | 1859β1936 | 1904 | 1923β1935 |
Ralph E. Urban (384) | Suffragan | 1875β1935 | 1932 | 1932β1935 |
Alfred Lothian Banyard^ | Suffragan | 1908β1992 | 1945 | 1945β1955 |
Albert Wiencke Van Duzer^ | Suffragan | 1917β1999 | 1966 | 1966β1972 |
gΒ | Coadjutor | gΒ | gΒ | 1972β1973 |
George Phelps Mellick Belshaw^ | Suffragan | 1928β928 | 1975 | 1975β1982 |
gΒ | Coadjutor | gΒ | gΒ | 1982β1983 |
Vincent King Pettit (781) | Suffragan | 1924β2006 | 1984 | 1984β1991 |
Joe Morris Doss^ | Coadjutor | 1943β | 1993 | 1993β1994 |
Herbert A. Donovan, Jr. (748) | Assisting | 1931β | 1980 | 1999β2000 |
David Bruce Joslin (871) | Assisting | 1936β | 1991 | 2000β2003 |
Sylvestre Donate Romero | Assisting; then Assistant | 1944β | 1994 | 2007; 2008-2010 |
^See list of diocesans