Wilbur Wong Yan Choy (; May 28, 1918 – December 29, 2021) was an American bishop in the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972. He was the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

elected as a bishop in the church.

Early life and education

Choy was born in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

on May 28, 1918, the son of Lie Yen and Ida Lee Choy. He earned an A.A. degree from

Stockton Junior College San Joaquin Delta College (Delta College) is a public community college in Stockton, California. It was founded in 1935 as Stockton Junior College. The college serves a district area that includes all of San Joaquin County and parts of Alameda, ...

(1944); a B.A. degree from the

College of the Pacific College of the Pacific is the liberal arts core of the University of the Pacific and offers degrees in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine and performing arts. The College houses 18 academic departments in addition to ...

(1946); and 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 ...

degree from the Pacific School of Religion (1949). Choy also held honorary doctorates from the Pacific School of Religion (

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, 1969) and the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

Ordained ministry

While a college and seminary student, Choy served as associate pastor of the Chinese

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

in Stockton. He was ordained deacon by Bishop

James Chamberlain Baker James Chamberlain Baker (June 2, 1879 – 1969) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, The Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1928. Biography Early life James Chamberlain Baker was born on June 2, ...

in 1946. Following seminary, Choy was ordained elder by Bishop Donald Tippett, joining the California-

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

Provisional Conference, continuing to serve the church in Stockton. In 1954, Choy was appointed to serve

St. Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...

's Methodist Church, Stockton, in the California- Nevada

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 ...

. He later held pastorates in Woodland and Sacramento, California, as well. In 1967, he served as

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 ...

of the California Senate. In 1969, Choy was appointed superintendent of the Bay View District.

Episcopal ministry

Choy was elected to the episcopacy by the 1972 Western Jurisdictional Conference of the

U.M. 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 evangelic ...

. He was assigned to the Seattle Episcopal Area, serving eight years. He was then assigned the San Francisco Episcopal Area, where he served for four years. He was President of the ''Council of Bishops'' of the U.M. Church, 1983-84. Bishop Choy also was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Chinese Churches. He was an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Pacific School of Religion from 1970 until 1984. As such, he worked to strengthen the school's focus on Pacific Basin cross-cultural dialogue, diversity and excellence in ministry. Choy was named a ''Distinguished Alumni/ae'' of the Pacific School of Religion in 1997. Choy retired in 1984.

Personal life and death

Choy married Grace Ying Hom 26 September 1940, and they remained together until her death on December 26, 1977. They had four children: Randolph, Jonathan, Phyllis, and Donnell. He died in Seattle, Washington on December 29, 2021, at the age of 103.

Appreciation

Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Pacific School of Religion, Robert Riddel, wrote in 1984 on behalf of the Board: :''"Bishop Choy's commitment to equality, liberation and a world free from racism and war are evident to all. As bishop, superintendent and local church pastor, Choy has brought to his ministry pastoral sensitivity, prayerful depth, the strengthening of diverse ministries, administrative care, and a saving sense of humor."''

References

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

* The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

* ''1997 Distinguished Alumni/ae'', Pacific School of Religio

External links

Photo of Bishop Choy

Working link to photo of Bishop Choy as of 18 April 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choy, Wilbur Wong Yan 1918 births 2021 deaths American men centenarians American chaplains American people of Chinese descent American United Methodist bishops Methodist chaplains Pacific School of Religion alumni People from Stockton, California