James Kemp (May 20, 1764 – October 28, 1827) was the second
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
Diocese of Maryland, US, from 1816 to 1827.
Early life
James Kemp was born on May 20, 1764, in Keith Hall parish,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includ ...
.
He graduated from
Marischal College
Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...
in 1786. He emigrated to
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in 1787, and lived with a family in
Dorchester County Dorchester County is the name of two counties in the United States:
* Dorchester County, Maryland
* Dorchester County, South Carolina
Dorchester County is a county located in U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population ...
.
Ministry
Brought up a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, Kemp joined the
Episcopal Church and studied theology under the direction of the Rev. Dr. John Bowie, rector of Great Choptank parish, MD. He received deacon's orders in Christ Church, Philadelphia on December 26, 1789, and He was ordained
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
the very next day on December 27, 1789. Kemp was ordained to both orders by the Rt. Rev. William White. In August 1790, Kemp succeeded his theological instructor, Dr. Bowie and became rector of
Great Choptank Parish, in
Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Maryl ...
, the county seat of Dorchester County. Rev. Kemp also served at
Green Hill Church likewise on the
Eastern Shore until 1813, when he was elected associate rector of
St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. Columbia College conferred on him a Doctor of Divinity Degree in 1802.
[
Kemp was elected ]suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
and consecrated on September 1, 1814, serving under elderly Bishop Thomas J. Claggett and overseeing the parishes on the Eastern Shore. His consecrators included:
* The Most Reverend William White, fourth presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
* The Right Reverend John Henry Hobart, third bishop of New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
* The Right Reverend Richard Channing Moore, second bishop of Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
James Kemp thus became the fifteenth
In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...
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 ...
consecrated in the Episcopal Church. He succeeded bishop Claggett on the latter's death in 1816. As bishop, Kemp invited Deacon William Levington
William Levington (1793 – May 15, 1836) was an African-American clergyman and teacher. The third African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, he established the first African-American congregation south o ...
to his diocese in 1824, and helped him establish St. James First African Episcopal Church, the third African American Episcopal church in the new country.
Death and legacy
Kemp died of injuries received in a stage coach accident near New Castle, Delaware, while returning from the consecration of Assistant Bishop Henry Onderdonk
Henry Ustick Onderdonk (March 16, 1789 – December 6, 1858) was the second Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, bishop of Pennsylvania.
Early life
Onderdonk was born in New York City.Batterson, 94 He stu ...
in Philadelphia. He was buried in the cemetery of Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore."Fact Sheet"
The Old St. Paul's Rectory, p. 1 of 5
See also
*
References
* William Stevens Perry, ''The Episcopate in America'', The Christian Literature Co. November 25, 1895, pp. 34, 35.
* Virtual American Biographies: James Kemp
* ''The Episcopal Church Annual''. Morehouse Publishing: New York, NY (2005).
1764 births
1827 deaths
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Religious leaders from Maryland
19th-century Anglican bishops in the United States
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism
Episcopal bishops of Maryland
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