Joe Morris Doss (born March 29, 1943) served as the 10th bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey forms part of Province II of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the southern and central New Jersey counties of Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, ...

from 1995 to 2001. He was elected bishop coadjutor in June 1993 and became bishop diocesan in 1995 following the retirement of G. P. Mellick Belshaw.

Biography

Doss was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

and graduated from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

and

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

; he also holds a J.D. from LSU. Prior to his election as bishop coadjutor, he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church,

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

since 1985, having held the same position at Grace Episcopal Church, New Orleans, Louisiana from 1973 to 1985 after being deacon-in-charge of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Doss announced his resignation on March 12, 1999, with effect coming in place on September 30, 2001, after a tenure in which that diocese was led into the mainstream of the Episcopal Church, though not without conflict and controversy - much of which was aimed at Doss in personal accusations, none of which produced any evidence of wrongdoing. He has since written five books, in particular ''Let the Bastards Go: From Cuba to Freedom on "God's Mercy"'' and ''The Songs of the Mothers: Promises for the Future Church.'' Doss also wrote an award-winning play, ''Song of a Man Coming Through,'' together with his son, M. Andrew Doss, about a death row inmate he defended in 1984. In 1985, Doss was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

National Governing Board. He holds a law degree from

. Following his resignation, Doss moved with his wife to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doss, Joe Morris Louisiana State University alumni General Theological Seminary alumni 1943 births Living people People from Mobile, Alabama Episcopal bishops of New Jersey