Early life and education
Gordon was born on May 6, 1918, inCareer
He was ordained deacon on January 24, 1943. Invited to Alaska by Bishop John B. Bentley in 1943, he served five years as missionary-in-charge on the Arctic Coast, mostly in Point Hope, Alaska. He was ordained priest by Bishop Bentley on July 25, 1943, in St Mark's Church in Nenana, Alaska. Gordon was consecrated bishop of Alaska on 18 May 1948 in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Raleigh, North Carolina by 13 bishops of the Episcopal Church of the USA - among them was his predecessor, Bishop Bentley, Bishop Edwin A. Penick of North Carolina and Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill who served as chief consecrator.Thomas, T. (1989). ''An Angel on His Wing: The Story of Bill Gordon, Alaska's Flying Bishop''. Morehouse Pub Co, New York, NY. . Before earning his pilot's license in 1949, Gordon had traveled about 6,000 miles by dogsled to minister to villages along Alaska's Arctic Sea coast. After returning to the state as a bishop but before earning his wings, Gordon visited all of the churches in his diocese on a three-month, 3,500-mile trip by boat. After earning his wings, Gordon logged over 1 million miles on a small plane purchased by the church for him to visit his flock. He retired in 1974 and later served as assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. Gordon died in Midland, Michigan, in 1994. In order to continue Gordon's ministry, the Diocese of Alaska founded the Wings of the Spirit Transportation Endowment in 1992 as a non-profit corporation.References and external links
* ''The Episcopal Church Annual'' -Morehouse Publishing