G. Porter Taylor

Granville Porter Taylor[1] (born September 17, 1950) is the sixth and immediate past Episcopal Bishop of Western North Carolina and is a regular attender and occasional celebrant/homilist (clergy associate) at St. James Episcopal Church, Black Mountain. In March 2015 he announced his intent to retire.[2] He was succeeded as bishop by the Rt. Rev. José Antonio McLoughlin.

The Right Reverend Granville Porter Taylor Ph.D.
Bishop of Western North Carolina
Bishop Taylor in clerical robes
Church	Episcopal Church
Diocese	Western North Carolina
Elected	2004
In office	2004-2016
Predecessor	Robert Hodges Johnson
Successor	José Antonio McLoughlin
Orders
Ordination	April 13, 1994 by Frank Allan
Consecration	September 18, 2004 by Robert Carroll Johnson Jr.
Personal details
Birth name	Granville Porter Taylor
Born	(1950-09-17) September 17, 1950 Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States
Nationality	American
Denomination	Anglican
Residence	Asheville, North Carolina
Spouse	Jo Abbott Taylor
Children	Arthur Taylor and Marie Taylor
Previous post	Rector of St. Gregory Episcopal Church
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Biography

Taylor was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, but raised in Asheville, North Carolina.[3][4] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972, followed by a Master of Arts in English from the University of South Carolina (1974) and a Ph.D. in Theology and Literature from Emory University (1983).[3]

In 1993, he received a Master of Divinity from the University of the South, Sewanee and was ordained a deacon.[3] He was ordained a priest on April 13, 1994,[1] and served seven years as rector of St. Gregory the Great Church in Athens, Georgia.[4]

He was consecrated as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina on September 18, 2004.[4] The 999th bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church, he was consecrated by Robert Carroll Johnson Jr., Robert Hodges Johnson, Frank Allan, Michael Curry, and J. Neil Alexander at the Asheville Civic Center.

He is the author of To Dream as God Dreams: Sermons of Hope, Conversion, and Community and From Anger to Zion: An Alphabet of Faith.[4] He and his wife, Jo Abbott Taylor (a research nurse), married in 1972; they have two children, Arthur and Marie. Arthur achieved his graduate degree (Ph.D.) in psychology at New York University, and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and two children. Bishop Taylor's daughter, Marie, who spent a year at Randolph College (formally Randolph-Macon Women's College), transferred and graduated from Western Carolina University, with a B.S. in Anthropology, and recently finished her Master's degree in GIS from the University of Southern California.[3]

In 2016, Taylor was named the Visiting Professor of Episcopal Studies at Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity.[5]

References

1. "Granville Porter Taylor". Church Publishing: Clergy/Parish Finder. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
2. "Western North Carolina Bishop Taylor will resign in September 2016". Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
3. "Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor". Reports on the Bishops of the Episcopal Church by Diocese. Archived from the original on 2010-08-09.
4. "Bishop". Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.
5. November 21; 2016 (2016-11-21). "Episcopal Bishop Porter Taylor appointed visiting professor". School of Divinity. Retrieved 2019-04-21.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Episcopal Church (USA) titles
Preceded by Robert Hodges Johnson	Bishop of Western North Carolina 2004–2016	Succeeded by José Antonio McLoughlin