Anthony Forbes Moreton "Tony" Clavier (born 19 April 1940) was the archbishop of the

American 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 provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

. He was born in

Yorkshire, England Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. Clavier entered the Bernard Gilpin Society, Sands House in

Durham, England Durham ( , locally ), is a cathedral city and civil parish on the River Wear, County Durham, England. It is an administrative centre of the County Durham District, which is a successor to the historic County Palatine of Durham (which is dif ...

, in 1958, leaving a year later to take a job as a teacher. In 1961, he was ordained a minister of the

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For many years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist M ...

. He then became involved in a number of independent churches. He was ordained by Francis Everden Glenn in the Catholic Episcopal Church in 1962. In April 1963 he was ordained by Charles Dennis Boltwood of the

Free Protestant Episcopal Church The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (FPEC), later named The Anglican Free Communion and now entitled the Episcopal Free Communion, was formed in England on 2 November 1897 from the merger of three smaller churches. Others were to join later. ...

. In May 1963 he was ordained by Charles Leslie Saul of the English Episcopal Church. In 1965 he associated himself with Archbishop

Gerard George Shelley George Frankham Shell known as George Gerard Shelley (Sidcup, Kent 1891 – 24 August 1980) was a British linguist, author and translator who travelled in Imperial Russia before and during the Russian Revolution. He became a priest and lived i ...

of the Old Roman Catholic Church, only to leave and be ordained again by

Hugh George de Willmott Newman Hugh George de Willmott Newman (17 January 1905 – 28 February 1979) was an Independent Catholic or independent Old Catholic bishop. He was known religiously as Mar Georgius I and bore the titles, among others, of Patriarch of Glastonbury, ...

of the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Anglican Orthodox Church The Orthodox Anglican Communion (OAC) is a communion of churches established in 1964 or 1967, by James Parker Dees. The AOC was formed outside of the See of Canterbury; the OAC is not part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Orthodox Communio ...

, staying with it until he returned to England and the Catholic Episcopal Church there. In 1969, Clavier returned to the United States. He became a priest under James Hardin George of the

. On 11 February 1970, George consecrated Clavier as a bishop and appointed him as a suffragan. Later that year, George resigned and Clavier served as primate for the next six years. Harold L. Trott became primate in 1976, only to leave office in 1981 with Clavier once again taking the position as primate. In 1995, after allegations that he had attempted to have sexual relations with ten female parishioners, Clavier resigned his position at the Deerfield Beach Anglican congregation in the

Anglican Church in America The Anglican Church in America (ACA) is a Continuing Anglican church body and the United States branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). The ACA, which is separate from The Episcopal Church, is not a member of the Anglican Communion ...

and, in July 1995, the house of bishops subsequently declared that he had abandoned his vows and deposed him. The local standing committee refused to pursue charges against him. Clavier later joined the Episcopal Church as a priest through the

Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas The Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas is part of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Diocese is organized into 56 congregations, with its diocesan office in Little Rock. The seat of the Bishop of Arkansa ...

. Clavier served as an editor of ''

The Anglican Digest ''The Anglican Digest'' (sometimes called TAD) is a quarterly religious magazine in the United States providing information related to Anglicanism, including news, essays, book reviews, and devotional material. It is published by SPEAK, the Socie ...

''.

Published works

*''Why a New Church?'', 1964 *''False Motives'', 1964 *''English Old Catholicism'', 1965

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clavier, Tony 1940 births Bishops of Independent Catholic denominations Clergy from Yorkshire Living people British emigrants to the United States