Robert McGrady Blackburn (12 September 1919 – 17 March 2002) was an American

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

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

, elected in 1972.

Birth and family

Robert was born in

Bartow, Florida Bartow ( ) is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American C ...

, the son of the Rev. C. Fred and Effie Frances (Forsythe) Blackburn. His father was the son of a Methodist minister, too. He married Mary Jeanne Everett on 16 November 1943, and they had three children: Jeanne Marie (Mrs. Ramon Cox), Robert McGrady, Jr., and Frances Lucile (Mrs. John Harwood). Robert, Jr. became the fourth generation of the family to enter Ordained Ministry. Mary Jeanne died on 22 May 1977 after a long illness. On 9 September 1978, Bishop Blackburn married Jewell Haddock of Jacksonville, whom he had known for several years. After the Bishop's

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

, they moved to Jacksonville.

Education

Blackburn graduated from high school in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. He earned a B.A. degree from

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

, in 1941. He earned a B.D. degree from the

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1943. He also received

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s from LaGrange College, Florida Southern,

North Carolina Wesleyan College North Carolina Wesleyan University (NCWU) is a Private college, private United Methodist Church, Methodist university in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded in 1956. North Carolina Wesleyan also offers evening courses at its main Rocky Mo ...

, and from Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

. In 1973 Florida Southern presented him the school's ''Distinguished Alumnus Award.''

Ordained ministry

Robert was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon in 1943 by Bishop

Arthur James Moore Arthur James Moore (December 26, 1888 – June 30, 1974) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS), the Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1930. Birth and family Arthur was born December ...

(and ordained Elder in 1944). Rev. Blackburn was appointed to Boca Grande, Florida. Subsequently, he served the following

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

churches in the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

: First Church, Orlando (as Associate Pastor); Mount Dora; Trinity, DeLand; First Church, Jacksonville; and again First Church, Orlando (as Senior Pastor). Altogether, he served as a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

for twenty-nine years, a tenure interrupted only by his service as a U.S. Army

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 1944–46. Rev. Blackburn was very active in conference affairs throughout his pastoral ministry, as well. He was considered an expert on financial matters. He was also elected a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences between 1964 and 1972.

Episcopal ministry

The Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the U.M. Church elected Robert M. Blackburn to the episcopacy in 1972. He was assigned to the

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

Episcopal Area, where he served for eight years. In 1980 he was assigned to the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Area, where he served until retirement in 1988. During his final year of service (1987–88), under his leadership the

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 ...

Annual Conference raised $19,400,000 for New Church Development. This was the largest sum ever raised by an Annual Conference in a one-year campaign to that date. Bishop Blackburn also served on several U.M. General Church Agencies: the General Council on Finance and Administration, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the General Board of Church and Society, and the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women. He also served as a Trustee for more than a half-dozen U.M. institutions of higher education. Bishop Blackburn also represented the United Methodist Church at the British Methodist Conference in Sheffield, England in 1980. He represented the U.M. Council of Bishops at the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an U.M. Conference in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1984, as well.

Death and funeral

Bishop Blackburn died 17 March 2002 following complications from his 7 March

open-heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

at Memorial Hospital in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He was eighty-two years of age. A

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

service was held 19 March 2002 at 4:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 225 E. Duval St., Jacksonville, FL 32202. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations were received by the church.

Episcopal remembrance

Bishop Joseph Yeakel of Smithsburg, Maryland, remembered Bishop Blackburn as one of the ''"unsung heroes of the nited MethodistChurch,"'' a leader who was committed to serving his episcopal area. Both men became Bishops in 1972 and forged a bond through that common experience: :''"I've always appreciated Bob's integrity...He was strong and a good leader and a friend. He really made his major contributions in the Area, and that's really what we're called to do."''

References

* The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

* InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church.

* ''Obituary,'' 18 March 2002, United Methodist News Servic

External links

''Retired Bishop Robert Blackburn dies at 82''

Photo of Bishop Blackburn