Edsel Albert Ammons (February 17, 1924 – December 24, 2010) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

, elected in 1976.

Birth and family

Ammons was born 17 February 1924 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He died 24 December 2010. He is the son of boogie woogie legend

Albert Ammons Albert Clifton Ammons (March 1, 1907 – December 2, 1949) was an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a blues style popular from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s. Life and career Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were pi ...

(1907–1949). He is the father of six children: Marilyn, Edsel, Jr., Carol, Kenneth, Carlton, and singer Lila. Bishop Ammons is married to Helen Ammons, the former Director of Student Life at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary,

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

Education

He was a graduate of Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois ( B.A., 1948). He earned his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois (1956), and his

D.Min. The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advanced ...

from Chicago Theological Seminary (1975).

Ordained ministry

Ammons was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

, both deacon and elder, in the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

(1947 and 1949),

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

ing churches of that denomination in Chicago and in

Highland Falls, New York Highland Falls, formerly named Buttermilk Falls, is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,900 at the 2010 census. The village was founded in 1906. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, ...

. Edsel was a social case worker for the Department of Welfare of Cook County, Illinois (1951–56). In 1957, under the influence of Bishop Charles Wesley Brashares, Ammons transferred into the Rock River

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

, and was appointed to the Whitfield Methodist Church in Chicago (which became the Ingleside-Whitfield Methodist Parish). He served this church until 1963, when he became director of urban ministry for the Rockford District. In 1966, he was appointed to the program staff of the Annual Conference. Ammons joined the faculty of Garrett Theological Seminary in 1968, remaining in this position until elected to the episcopacy in 1976.

Episcopal ministry

Ammons was elected by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference and assigned to the

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Episcopal Area (the Detroit and West Michigan Annual Conferences). After eight years in Michigan, he was assigned to the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

West Area (the West Ohio Conference). Ammons served as the president of the U.M. General Board of Discipleship (1980–84), the chairperson of the Health and Welfare Program Department (1984–88), and chairperson of the

Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Personnel and Resources Program Department (1988–92) of the General Board of Global Ministries. Ammons received

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s from

Westmar College Westmar University was a private four-year liberal arts college in Le Mars, Iowa, United States. It permanently closed on November 21, 1997. Westmar University was founded in 1887 as the Northwestern Normal School and Business College by Jaco ...

(1975), Albion College (1979),

Adrian College Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildi ...

(1980), Mount Union College (1992) and Chicago Theological Seminary (1992). In retirement Bishop Ammons served as bishop-in-besidence at Garrett-Evangelical. Ammons died on December 24, 2010, in Evanston, Illinois, at age 86.

References

*InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church.

*The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

External links