Barry Leigh Beisner (born June 5, 1951) is a retired American

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California from 2007 to 2019.

Biography

Beisner was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

on June 5, 1951. He studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in History in 1973. He also graduated with a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

from the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, ...

in 1978 and a Master of Sacred Theology from the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

in 1994. The latter awarded him 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 2007. Beisner was ordained to the diaconate on June 24, 1978, and to the priesthood on May 19, 1979. He served as assistant at St Stephen’s Church in

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

from 1978 to 1979 and then as vicar of St Paul’s Church in

Cambria, California Cambria () is a seaside village in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California State Route 1 (Highway 1). The name Cambria, chosen in 1869, is the Latin name for Wales. Cambria ...

and chaplain at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo between 1978 and 1980. In 1980 he became associate rector of St Mark’s Church in

Upper Arlington, Ohio Upper Arlington, often known by its initials U.A., is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The Old Arlington neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

while in 1983 he returned to California to become rector of the Church of the Incarnation in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Between 1989 and 2002 he was rector of St Martin’s Church in Davis, California during which time he helped found Davis Community Meals, was a Field Education Supervisor and Lecturer in Pastoral and Practical Theology at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a Chaplain for the Clergy Leadership Project, and an Army Reserve Chaplain. In 2002 he was appointed Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Northern California. On May 6, 2006 he was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Northern California and was consecrated on September 30, 2006. He succeeded as diocesan bishop on January 1, 2007. He announced his retirement at the diocesan convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California on in November 2017. He was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. Megan M. Traquair upon her consecration on June 29, 2019.

References

External links

Diocesan website
Living people 1951 births General Theological Seminary alumni Episcopal bishops of Northern California Church Divinity School of the Pacific alumni {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links