The Rt. Rev. David Bruce Joslin
January 8, 1936 – October 24, 2023
It is in the hope of the resurrection that we announce the death of the former Assisting Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, the Rt. Rev. David Bruce Joslin. Bishop Joslin, who served the Diocese in the wake of the resignation of the X Bishop of New Jersey died on October 25th in his retirement home of Westerly, Rhode Island. Bishop Joslin was 87 years old.
Born in Collingswood and raised in Linwood, Atlantic County, he was Jersey born and bred. He received his B.A. and M.Div. from Drew University in Madison. Raised a Methodist, he was drawn to the Episcopal Church and after receiving an Associate in Anglican Studies at the Episcopal Divinity School in 1965, he was ordained to the Diaconate and Priesthood that same year in the Diocese of Newark. After serving churches in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota, he was consecrated the IX Bishop of Central New York, where he served from 1992–1999.
Bishop Joslin is credited with bringing stability to our Diocese after the resignation of the Rt. Rev. Joe Morris Doss took effect in 2001, paving the way for the election of our XI Bishop, George E. Councell.
His final words to the 219th Diocesan Convention in 2003, the last he chaired, are as current now as then: “Being the Servant Church in a time of world crisis and in a time of an Episcopal election can be a marvelous thing. By it we can transform others and through it we can by God’s grace be transformed ourselves. And such a transformed church can be ‘a light unto the nations and a benediction to the world’”.
A Requiem Eucharist will be celebrated at Christ Episcopal Church, Westerly, Rhode Island, on Saturday, November 4, 2023 at 11 a.m., followed by committal and internment in the church yard. Please remember his wife, Missy, and his family in your prayers.
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death, and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that your servant David, being raised with Christ, may know the strength of his presence, and rejoice in his eternal glory; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
A Holy Eucharist in loving memory of the Rt. Rev. David B. Joslin will be held Saturday at Christ Church, Westerly, R.I., and carried live on the church’s website.
