Don Adger Wimberly (born June 10, 1937) was chancellor of the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892 * Sewanee Natural Bridge * Saint Andrews-Sewanee School See also * Suwanee (disambiguati ...

from 1997 to 2003. He also served as Bishop of Lexington and then Bishop of Texas in The Episcopal Church.

Early life and education

Wimberly was born on June 10, 1937, in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, the son of Herbert Wright Wimberly and Mary Elizabeth Adger. He was raised as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

. He studied at the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

where he 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 business and economics in 1959. He also attended the Paul M. Hebert Law Center for two years, before serving in the military. He spent five years as a corporate analyst for Kerr-McGee in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. While in the army, he considered joining the Episcopal Church, an action which saw him enrolling for 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 ...

at the

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

. he graduated in 1971.

Ordained Ministry

Wimberly was ordained deacon in June 1971 by Bishop Iveson B. Noland of Louisiana, and priest in December of the same year by Bishop Harold B. Robinson of Western New York. After ordination, he served as curate at Calvary Church in

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical ...

, while in 1972, assisted at St James' Church in

. In 1974, he moved to

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

to become rector of Christ Church. Later, between 1978 and 1984, he served as Dean of St John's Cathedral in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. In 1976, represented the

Episcopal Diocese of Kansas The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, established in 1859, is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over eastern Kansas. It is in Province 7 and its cathedral, Grace Cathedral, is in Topeka, as are the ...

as deputy at the General Convention, and did the same for the

Episcopal Diocese of Florida The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georg ...

at the 1979 convention.

Bishop of Lexington

In June 1984, Wimberly was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Lexington and consecrated on September 22, 1984, in Immanuel Baptist Church,

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, by Presiding Bishop

John Allin John Maury Allin (April 22, 1921 – March 6, 1998) was an American Episcopalian bishop who served as the 23rd Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1974 to 1985. Early life Allin was born in Helena, Arkansas. He graduated from the Un ...

. He succeeded as diocesan in November 1985 and remained in Lexington till his resignation in 1999 to become Diocesan Missioner of the Diocese of Texas. During his time in Lexington, women were allowed to be ordained to the priesthood and the cathedral status was transferred back to Christ Church. In addition, the diocesan camp and Conference Center and the Cathedral Domain in Lee County were expanded. In 1997, he was elected chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South, a post he retained till 2003.

Bishop of Texas

On June 15, 2002, Wimberly was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Texas on the third ballot. He succeeded as diocesan in 2003. As Bishop of Texas, he oversaw the establishment of the permanent diaconate and bi-vocational priests. he also moved the diocesan offices in downtown

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Moreover, two new churches were built in the diocese and nine missions became parishes. On February 14, 2009, he announced his intention to retire and transferred diocesan responsibilities to the Coadjutor Bishop of Texas C. Andrew Doyle. He retired on June 6, 2009, and became Assistant Bishop of Atlanta. He is currently a member of Communion Partners, an Episcopalian group which opposed the 77th General Episcopal Convention's decision to authorize the blessing of same-sex marriages in 2012. The measure to allow the blessing of same-sex unions won by a 111–41 vote with 3 abstentions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimberly, Don Adger 1937 births Living people People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Converts to Anglicanism from Methodism Louisiana State University alumni Virginia Theological Seminary alumni Sewanee: The University of the South faculty Episcopal bishops of Lexington Episcopal bishops of Texas