John Melville Burgess (March 11, 1909 – August 24, 2003) was the twelfth

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 Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

from 1970 to 1975 and the first

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to head an

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diocese.

Biography

Burgess was the son of Theodore Thomas (a dining car waiter on the Pere Marquette Railway) and Ethel Inez Beverly (a kindergarten teacher) Burgess. He attended Central High School in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. He received a B.A. in 1930 and an M.A. in 1931 from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Burgess then earned 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 ...

degree from the Episcopal Theological School in

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in 1934, of which he was one of the first black graduates. After beginning his ministry in his home parish of St. Philip's Episcopal; a

Colored Episcopal Mission {{short description, Obsolete Anglican term used by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America Colored Episcopal Mission is an obsolete Anglican term used by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.The term was coined in the 1 ...

in Grand Rapids and then

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 ...

, Burgess became the Episcopal

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

at Howard University in

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in 1946. In 1951, he became the first African American to serve as canon at Washington National Cathedral. In 1956, Burgess moved to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts as an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

's parishes and missions and superintendent of what became named the Episcopal City Mission. He was the first black archdeacon in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. In 1962, Burgess was elected on the first ballot as a

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 ...

of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, becoming the first African American to serve the Episcopal Church as spiritual leader in a predominantly white diocese. When Burgess was installed as diocesan bishop in 1970, he became the first African American to head an Episcopal diocese. Burgess was known for his efforts to revitalize urban ministry, confront racism in public schools, support prison reform, build bridges between black and white communities, and improve the efficiency of the diocese. He was an important ecumenical leader in maintaining peace during the Boston school desegregation crisis. His wife,

Esther Burgess Esther Julia Burgess (1911 – 2004; née Taylor) was a nonviolent campaigner in the Civil Rights movement. She was the wife of Reverend John Melville Burgess, the first Black bishop within the American Episcopal Church. St. Augustine Sit-in Pr ...

, was also active as a peaceful demonstrator against segregation. Following his retirement in 1975, Burgess taught pastoral theology at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. He was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Michigan,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

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, the University of Massachusetts,

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

, and St. Augustine's College.

Selected works

References

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Endnotes

1909 births 2003 deaths Clergy from Grand Rapids, Michigan Episcopal Divinity School alumni University of Michigan alumni Episcopal bishops of Massachusetts African-American Christian clergy American Christian clergy African-American Episcopalians Yale Divinity School faculty 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American bishops 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century American Episcopal priests {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub