John Vander Horst
John Vander Horst (January 12, 1912 – April 19, 1980) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee from 1961 to 1977.
The Right Reverend John Vander Horst D.D., LL.D | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Tennessee | |
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| Church | Episcopal Church |
| Diocese | Tennessee |
| Elected | April 19, 1961 |
| In office | 1961-1977 |
| Predecessor | Theodore N. Barth |
| Successor | William Evan Sanders |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 26, 1939 by Edward T. Helfenstein |
| Consecration | March 2, 1955 by Henry Knox Sherrill |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 12, 1912 Orange, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | April 19, 1980 (aged 68) Marietta, Georgia, United States |
| Buried | St. John's Episcopal Church (Ashwood, Tennessee) |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Parents | Elias Vander Horst & Ella Virginia Cole |
| Spouse | Helen Gray Lawrence |
| Children | 4 |
| Previous post | Suffragan Bishop of Tennessee (1955-1961) Coadjutor Bishop of Tennessee (1961) |
Early life and education
Vander Horst was born in Orange, New Jersey, on January 12, 1912. He was educated at Baltimore's Gilman School, Princeton University, St Stephen's House, Oxford and the Virginia Theological Seminary. He held honorary doctorates from his seminary and the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Priest
He was ordained deacon on June 10, 1938 and priest the following year in Maryland. His first appointment at St John's Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. He also served as rector of St Paul's Church in Macon, Georgia from 1942 until 1945 when he moved to Philadelphia's Church of the Good Shepherd. In 1951 he became rector of St Paul's Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Bishop
In 1955 he was elected Suffragan Bishop of Tennessee. He was consecrated on March 2, 1955, in St Paul's Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee by Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill. On April 19, 1961, he was elected as Coadjutor Bishop of Tennessee and on October 13, of the same year became the seventh diocesan bishop, upon the death of Bishop Theodore N. Barth. As bishop, he was very active in the revision of the national canon on matrimony, where he asserted that the limitations concerning remarriage could be modified without compromising the church's teaching, which arguments he forwarded to the House of Bishops in 1973. Vander Horst suffered a slight stroke in January 1973 and placed jurisdiction over the Diocese in the hands of the then coadjutor, Bishop William Evan Sanders, for the ensuing year, after which he returned to full activity. He retired in January 1977. He died on April 19, 1980.[1]
Personal life
Vander Horst married Helen Gray Lawrence of Marietta, Georgia in 1940. They had 4 children.
References
- "A Short history of ten bishops of Tennessee Episcopal Church 1834-1993", Diocese of Tennessee. Retrieved on 1 October 2018.