Donald J. Parsons Consecrated Bishop of Quincy
Diocesan Press Service. September 10, 1973 [73209]
PEORIA, Ill. -- The Very Rev. Donald J. Parsons was consecrated the Sixth Bishop of Quincy in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Peoria, Illinois, on September 8, 1973 at 10:30 a.m.
Parsons has been President and Dean of Nashotah House, an Episcopal Seminary in Wisconsin for 10 years and a member of that faculty for 23 years. He has a Th.D. degree in New Testament with extensive work in Ascetical Theology. As Dean of Nashotah House, he has made it one of the leading seminaries of the Church. He is a noted teacher and retreat leader. He has been a member of the Joint Commission on Theological Education, and the Conference of American Seminary Deans. The emphasis of his work has been on church renewal.
He married Mary Russell of Kewanee in 1955 and they have three children. They will live in Peoria at 3900 North Hawthorne Place.
A bishop in the Episcopal Church is set apart to be a successor of the Apostles and those bishops consecrated by them. All bishops of the Anglican Church are in the line of succession from Saint Peter through Saint Augustine of Canterbury, and Archbishop William Laud in the Church of England. Most American bishops also trace their succession to Saint John through the Eastern Orthodox Church. Thus they are bishops of the Universal Church. The word "apostle" derives from a Greek word for one sent with authority to lead that part of the Church under their care in ministering to the world and to one another. He is chief pastor and leads his people in worship. Many of his spiritual functions are normally delegated to the local clergy.
The Right Reverend John E. Hines, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will be the Chief Consecrator and will be assisted by the Co-Consecrators: The Right Reverend Donald H. V. Hallock, Bishop of Milwaukee; the Right Reverend James W. Montgomery, Bishop of Chicago; the Right Reverend Albert W. Hillestad, Bishop of Springfield; and the Right Reverend William C. R. Sheridan, Bishop of Northern Indiana.
The Diocese of Quincy lies between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and is named for Quincy, Illinois, which was the See City until May 7, 1962.
(NOTE TO EDITORS: A photograph of Bishop Parsons is available on request.)