Emerson Stephen Colaw (November 13, 1921 – October 11, 2016) was an 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 ...

in 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 ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

specializing in

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

. He was first elected as bishop in 1980.

Education

Colaw earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in 1944 from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and a

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, ''magna cum laude'', in 1947 from

Drew Theological Seminary Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

. He received a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1953. He did graduate work at Union Theological Seminary in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and at the Lutheran School of Theology in

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

. He received

honorary doctorates 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 hon ...

from five different institutions.

Ordained ministry

He 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 ...

a deacon in 1945 by Bishop H. Lester Smith, and an elder in 1947 by Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam. Rev. Colaw became a member in full connection of the

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

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 ...

in 1947. That fall, however, he transferred to the Northern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

annual conference, where he served three different pastorates over a 14-year period. In 1961, Colaw was appointed to the

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

Community United Methodist Church in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(West

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 ...

annual conference). It was from this appointment that he was elected to the

episcopacy 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 ...

by the North Central jurisdictional conference of the United Methodist Church]in July 1980. Colaw was a jurisdictional and general conference delegate from 1968 to 1980. He also was a member of the General Conference Commission on Doctrine and Doctrinal Standards.

Episcopal ministry

Colaw was elected to the episcopacy by the 1980 North Central Jurisdictional Conference of the church. As a bishop he was on the General Board of Discipleship, the General Council on Finance and Administration, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and was

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Commission to Study the Mission of the Church during the 1984-88

quadrennium A unit of time is any particular time interval, used as a standard way of measuring or expressing duration. The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) and by extension most of the Western world, is the second, defined as ab ...

Other

Colaw received numerous ecumenical awards. He retired in 1988 and then became a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and Christian ministry at

United Theological Seminary United Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary in Trotwood, Ohio. Founded in 1871 by Milton Wright (father of the Wright brothers), it was originally sponsored by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1946, members ...

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 ...

from 1988 to 1999. He was the acting president of the seminary from 1995 to1996. After his second retirement, he became bishop in residence at the North Naples United Methodist Church in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

, during winters. He relaxed with golf and reading and, for many years, was active in

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

. In Cincinnati, Colaw spent many years as moderator of a weekly television program titled ''Dialogue'' which had an ecumenical panel of local Protestant, Catholic and Jewish clergy. He wrote many books and pamphlets and more than 40 magazine articles.

Birth and family

Colaw was born in

Chanute, Kansas Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,722. Chanute is home ...

. He married Jane Elizabeth Curry of

East McKeesport, Pennsylvania East McKeesport is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 2,076 at the 2020 census.https://data.census.gov/all?q=East+McKeesport+borough,+Pennsylvania Geography Ea ...

, on August 26, 1942. They have four children: Prudence, Deborah, Marcella, and David. His wife, Jane, died on April 16, 2013, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Colaw died on October 11, 2016, in Cincinnati. Their daughter Prudence Klinger (Larry) has three children, Jeffrey, Robert (died October 11, 2010) and Kristin. Their daughter Deborah Peterson has one son, Andrew Peterson. Their daughter Marcella Vilardo (Michael) has three children, Christopher, Laura and David. His son David (Jill Compston) has two children, Joshua and Rachael. In 2021, there were 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

References