Matthew George Henry (October 25, 1910March 19, 1975) was the third
diocesan bishop of
Western North Carolina in
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...
, serving from September 29, 1948, until his death.
Early life and education
Henry was born on October 25, 1910, in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...
, the son of Dr George Kenneth Grant, professor of Latin and later assistant registrar at the
University of North Carolina, and Mary Elizabeth Harding who was descendant from a line of Episcopal clergymen. Henry attended the public schools in Chapel Hill and then studied at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from where he graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1931. He became a member of
Phi Beta Kappa, and after graduation he held a teaching fellowship at the
University of South Carolina. He then attended the
Virginia Theological Seminary from where he earned 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 1935.
[Powell, W. S. (2000). ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: Vol. 3, H-K'', p. 114-115. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. .]
Ordained ministry
Henry was ordained deacon on June 16, 1935, in the
Chapel of the Cross in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...
by
Edwin A. Penick, Bishop of North Carolina. He then became curate at St Philip's Church in
Durham, North Carolina
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
and in November of that same year, he served at St Paul's Church in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1936, he became deacon-in-charge of
Christ Church in
Walnut Cove, North Carolina, Messiah Church in
Mayodan, North Carolina
Mayodan is a town in Rockingham County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is a manufacturing site for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Bridgestone Aircraft Tire, and General Tobacco (ceased operations 2010). Washington Mills Company, later Tultex, o ...
,
St Philip's Church
''Riceyman Steps'' is a novel by British novelist Arnold Bennett, first published in 1923 and winner of that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. It follows a year in the life of Henry Earlforward, a miserly second-hand bookshop ow ...
in
Germantown, North Carolina
Germantown is an unincorporated community in Hyde County, North Carolina, United States.
The community is at the intersection of Swindell and German Town Roads. Germantown is approximately 52.66 miles east-southeast of Greenville, North Carolina, ...
, and Emmanuel Church in
Stoneville, North Carolina. He was ordained priest in the Church of the Messiah,
Mayodan, North Carolina
Mayodan is a town in Rockingham County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is a manufacturing site for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Bridgestone Aircraft Tire, and General Tobacco (ceased operations 2010). Washington Mills Company, later Tultex, o ...
on May 23, 1936, by Bishop Penick and became priest-in-charge of the church within which he served as deacon. That same year, in 1936, Henry transferred to
Calvary Church in
Tarboro, North Carolina to serve as its rector. In 1943, he left Tarboro and became rector of Christ Church in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bishop
On May 14, 1948, Henry was elected on the ninth ballot as the third Bishop of Western North Carolina, during the diocesan annual convention held in
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
. He was consecrated on September 29, 1948, at Trinity Church in
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
by Presiding Bishop
Henry St. George Tucker Henry St. George Tucker may refer to:
* Henry St George Tucker (financier) (1771–1851), Bermudian financier and official of the East India Company
* Henry St. George Tucker Sr. (1780–1848), U.S. representative from Virginia
* Henry St. George ...
. Henry died in office of a heart attack on March 19, 1975.
References
1910 births
1975 deaths
American Episcopalians
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
20th-century American Episcopalians
Episcopal bishops of Western North Carolina
20th-century American clergy
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