Arthur Llewellyn Williams (January 30, 1856 – January 29, 1919) was the third
diocesan bishop of
Nebraska in
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...
.
Early life and education
Williams was born on January 30, 1856, in
Owen Sound, Ontario,
Canada, the son of the Reverend Richard Jones Williams, a
Welsh Presbyterian minister, and Elizabeth Johnston. His mother died in 1857. In 1859, he moved with his father to settle in
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Williams attended high school in
Shullsburg, Wisconsin, and then studied at the
East Greenwich Academy in
Rhode Island, graduating in 1877. He then worked in the mercantile business in
Longmont, Colorado
The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
Longmont ...
, and then with the Colorado, Utah and Pacific Railroad, at which time he joined the
Episcopal Church. He entered the
Western Theological Seminary in 1886, from where he earned a
Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1888, and a
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
in 1900. Williams married Adelaide L. Makinster on October 18, 1879.
Ordained ministry
Williams was ordained deacon on May 22, 1888, and priest on June 3, 1889, by the Bishop of Colorado
John Franklin Spalding, in
St John's Cathedral,
Denver. He served as missionary in
White River City, Colorado between 1888 and 1891, and then as rector of St Paul's Church in
Denver, Colorado between 1891 and 1892. In 1892, he became rector of Christ Church in
Chicago, where he remained till 1899.
Bishop
He was elected
coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...
in May 1899 on the first ballot, over the opposition of those who called him a "ritualist" or too
high church. He was consecrated on October 18, 1899, in
Trinity Cathedral. Williams served in that capacity, and administered the diocese on behalf of the diocesan
Bishop George Worthington who could no longer live in the diocese, till 1908. He died in office in 1919.
References
Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism
1856 births
1919 deaths
Episcopal bishops of Nebraska
{{US-Anglican-bishop-stub