William Benjamin Spofford, Jr. (January 28, 1921 – November 5, 2013) was the 4th Bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon The Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which has jurisdiction over Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains. It also includes Klickitat County, Washington. It is in Province 8. T ...

from 1969 to 1979 From 1979 to 1984 he served as Assistant Bishop of Washington (D.C.).

Early life and education

Spofford was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

on January 28, 1921, the son of Dorothy Grace Ibbotson and William B. Spofford Sr., also a priest and from 1919 to 1972 editor of The Witness. He was educated at the Lenox School for Boys, and later received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from Antioch College in 1943, 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 ...

from the Episcopal Theological School (now the Episcopal Divinity School) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in 1945, which also bestowed its Distinguished Alumnus Award on him in 2009. He later studied at the Yale Center for Alcohol Studies and earned an MSW from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1950. He was also awarded a number of honorary doctorates, notably a

Doctor of Divinity 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 ran ...

from the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, ...

in 1968, and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni include eight Rhode ...

in 1972.

Ordained ministry

Spofford was ordained deacon in November 1944 and priest on June 23, 1945 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

by Bishop

William Appleton Lawrence William Appleton Lawrence (May 21, 1889 - December 21, 1968) was the third bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts (1937–57). His father, William Lawrence, was the seventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (1 ...

of Western Massachusetts. He had married Pauline Lindell Fawcett on September 9, 1944 and together had five children. She died in 2008. He initially served as minister-in-charge of the Church of the Good Shepherd in

from 1944 until 1946 and as acting minister at

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

in 1946. He then served as Executive Secretary of the Episcopal League for Social Action between 1946 and 1949 and as rector of St Thomas Church in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

from 1947 until 1950. In 1950 he became the Assistant Director of the Western Extension Center at the Town-Country Church Institute in Weiser, Idaho and then became its director in 1953. He held the latter post until 1956 when he was appointed chief of chaplain at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

. Between 1960 and 1968 he held the post of Dean of St Michael's Cathedral in Boise, Idaho.

Bishop

In October 1968 Spofford was elected Missionary Bishop of Eastern Oregon and was consecrated on January 25, 1969 by Presiding Bishop

John E. Hines John Elbridge Hines (October 3, 1910 – July 19, 1997) was a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. When he was elected the 22nd Presiding Bishop in 1965, at the age of 54, he was the youngest person to hold that office, which ...

. During his episcopacy the missionary district became a diocese and thus he became the first diocesan bishop of Eastern Oregon in 1971. He retired in 1979 and then served as Assistant Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington until 1984, and then briefly again in 1990. Later he was also bishop-chaplain at

St. George's College, Jerusalem St George's College Jerusalem (SGCJ) is a continuing education center of the Anglican Communion. It is an agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, with a mission to the local church within the Diocese, to the wider Anglican Church in the Midd ...

. He died at his home in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

on November 5, 2013."The Right Reverend William B. Spofford Jr., 1921-2013"
''Episcopal Church Archives''. Retrieved on March 9, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spofford, William B. 1921 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States University of Michigan School of Social Work alumni Antioch College alumni Episcopal Divinity School alumni Episcopal bishops of Eastern Oregon