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John Shelby Spong, liberal Episcopal bishop and LGBTQ advocate, dies at 90
One of the great lights of progressive Christianity died earlier this week.
John Shelby Spong, liberal Episcopal bishop and LGBTQ advocate, dies at 90
The Right Rev. John Shelby Spong, a liberal theologian and former bishop who shook up the modern Episcopal Church, championing the inclusion of women and LGBTQ people in the clergy while promoting a nonliteral interpretation of scripture, died Sept. 12 at his home in Richmond. He was 90.
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As a theologian, he was known for questioning some of Christianity’s fundamental doctrines, including the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus and the existence of miracles. Those views infuriated Christian leaders who labeled him a heretic, although he was part of a long tradition of theologians who argued that taking the Bible literally was to miss the truth behind its teachings.
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Bishop Spong later expanded his ministry to encompass the fights for gender equality and LGBTQ rights. Soon after he arrived at the Diocese of Newark in 1976 as bishop coadjutor, a steppingstone to bishop, the diocese became one of the first to ordain women to the priesthood. In 1989, he ordained the first openly gay man to the Episcopal priesthood, the Rev. Robert Williams, who had written to Bishop Spong after reading his book “Living in Sin? A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality.”
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Before he was consecrated bishop coadjutor, Bishop Spong served for 20 years as a priest in North Carolina and Virginia. As rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond — also known as the Cathedral of the Confederacy because it was where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis once worshiped — he took down the Confederate flag that flew above the building. In the mid-1970s, he invited a rabbi to speak, leading to a picket line of fundamentalist Christians who insisted he try to baptize his Jewish visitors.
The Right Rev. John Shelby Spong, a liberal theologian and former bishop who shook up the modern Episcopal Church, championing the inclusion of women and LGBTQ people in the clergy while promoting a nonliteral interpretation of scripture, died Sept. 12 at his home in Richmond. He was 90.
[ , , , , ]
As a theologian, he was known for questioning some of Christianity’s fundamental doctrines, including the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus and the existence of miracles. Those views infuriated Christian leaders who labeled him a heretic, although he was part of a long tradition of theologians who argued that taking the Bible literally was to miss the truth behind its teachings.
[ . . . . ]
Bishop Spong later expanded his ministry to encompass the fights for gender equality and LGBTQ rights. Soon after he arrived at the Diocese of Newark in 1976 as bishop coadjutor, a steppingstone to bishop, the diocese became one of the first to ordain women to the priesthood. In 1989, he ordained the first openly gay man to the Episcopal priesthood, the Rev. Robert Williams, who had written to Bishop Spong after reading his book “Living in Sin? A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality.”
[ . . . . ]
Before he was consecrated bishop coadjutor, Bishop Spong served for 20 years as a priest in North Carolina and Virginia. As rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond — also known as the Cathedral of the Confederacy because it was where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis once worshiped — he took down the Confederate flag that flew above the building. In the mid-1970s, he invited a rabbi to speak, leading to a picket line of fundamentalist Christians who insisted he try to baptize his Jewish visitors.
Requiescat in pace, dear Bishop!
9 replies
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He was a good guy...
