Charles Gray Temple (March 11, 1914 – October 27, 1999) was eleventh bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC), known as The Episcopal Church in South Carolina from January 2013 until September 2019, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church. The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the ...

, serving from 1961 to 1982.

Early life and education

Temple was born on March 13, 1914, in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

, the son of the Reverend Charles Hosea Temple, a minister of the First Universalist Church of the Redeemer, and Mary Eleanor Gray. He was educated at the

Warren, Rhode Island Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 11,147 at the 2020 census. History Warren was the site of the Pokanoket Indian settlement of Sowams located on a peninsula within the Pokanoket region. The reg ...

, high school, and then at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, from 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 1935. He graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary with 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 ...

in 1938.

Ordained ministry

Temple was ordained deacon on May 29, 1938, by Bishop

James De Wolf Perry James DeWolf Perry (October 3, 1871 – March 20, 1947) was an American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal clergyman and prelate. He was the 7th Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, Bishop of Rhode Island (1911–1946) and the 18th Presid ...

of Rhode Island, and priest on June 1, 1939, by Bishop Edwin A. Penick of North Carolina. From 1938 till 1940, he served as curate at Calvary Church and the Edgecombe County missions in Tarboro, North Carolina. On January 29, 1940, he married Maria Louisa Drane, and together had three sons. From 1940 till 1941 he served as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1941, he became priest-in-charge of St John's Church in

Battleboro, North Carolina Battleboro is a former town and community in the city of Rocky Mount in Edgecombe and Nash counties of North Carolina, United States. History In 1835 Joseph S. Battle established Battle's Camp along the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad. The s ...

, and rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Edgecombe and Nash County, North Carolina, Nash counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it ...

. He retained the former post till 1947 and the latter till 1953. In 1953, he transferred to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, to serve as rector of St Peter's Church. Between 1955 and 1961, he served as rector of Trinity Church in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

Bishop

On September 27, 1960, Temple was elected on the fifth ballot as Bishop of South Carolina, during a special convention held in the Church of the Holy Comforter in

Sumter, South Carolina Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (o ...

. He was consecrated on January 11, 1961, in St Luke's and St Paul's Church,

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, by Presiding Bishop

Arthur C. Lichtenberger Arthur Carl Lichtenberger (January 8, 1900 – September 3, 1968) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church in the United States. He served as Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, Bishop of Missouri from 1952 to 1959, and as ...

. Bishop Temple's episcopacy is well known for its progressive moves in the Diocese of South Carolina, notably regarding racial equality, and the ceasing of segregated churches and the archdeaconry for black people. He also intertwined the ordination of women in the diocese and adapted the new prayer book for the diocese. He also worked in securing the ties of the diocese with the Episcopal Church, something which was challenged after Temple's retirement in 1982. In 1963, he choose the Parish Church of St Luke and St Paul in

, as the diocesan cathedral. Temple died on October 27, 1999, at the South Carolina Episcopal Retirement Community at West Columbia, South Carolina."Bishop Temple of South Carolina Dies"
''

The Living Church ''The Living Church'' is a magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news on the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. In continuous publication since 1878, it has generally been identified with the Anglo-Catho ...

'', 21 November 1999. Retrieved on 16 June 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Gray 1914 births 1999 deaths Episcopal bishops of South Carolina People from Lewiston, Maine Virginia Theological Seminary alumni Brown University alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American clergy