This week in Christian history: missionary society founded, Oscar Romero assassinated, Samuel Seabury consecrated
Samuel Seabury elected a bishop – March 25, 1783
This week marks the anniversary of when the Rev. Samuel Seabury, who would eventually become the first head of The Episcopal Church, was elected bishop of Connecticut.
Seabury’s election came at a meeting of 10 clergy at the home of the Rev. John Rutgers Marshall of Woodbury, Connecticut, with Seabury traveling to England to be consecrated.
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“He arrived in England on July 7, 1783, and spent over a year trying to get consecrated by English bishops. For a number of reasons, including the need to take the oath of allegiance to the King of England, no bishops would consecrate Seabury,” explained The Episcopal Church.
“He then went to Scotland, where he was consecrated at Aberdeen on Nov. 14, 1784, at the chapel in the home of John Skinner, Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen. The consecrator was Robert Kilgour, bishop of Aberdeen and Primus of the Nonjuring Episcopal Church in Scotland.”
In 1789, Seabury became the first presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, a position he would hold until 1792.
