William Edwin Swing (born 26 August 1936) is a retired bishop of the

Episcopal Church in the United States 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 the Bishop of California, based in San Francisco, from 1980 to 2006.

Education

Born in West Virginia, Swing received a A.B. and D.D. from

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in 1958 and 1981, a M.Div. and D.D. from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1961 and 1980, L.H.D. from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, 2005, D.D.

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 2007, a D.H.L from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in 2009. Swing is the recipient of many honorary doctoral degrees including the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Priest and Bishop

Swing was ordained a deacon at

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, on June 11, 1961; he was ordained a priest at Wheeling, West Virginia, on December 20, 1961. He was appointed curate of St Matthew’s Church in Wheeling, West Virginia from 1961–63; vicar of St Thomas’ Church in Weirton, and St Matthew’s Church in Chester, West Virginia from 1963-69; and then rector of St Columba's Church in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1969-79. He was elected as the seventh Bishop of California in 1979 and was consecrated at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on September 29, 1979. He is the Founder and President of the

United Religions Initiative The United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global grassroots interfaith network. It has local and global initiatives through more than 800 member groups and organizations, called Cooperation Circles, to engage in community action such as conflic ...

(URI), an international NGO working to promote interfaith cooperation. He is an author and inspirational speaker and has received numerous awards for his commitment to service.

Work

During his time as bishop, Swing was a pioneer in responding to the

HIV/AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

and to

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

. He served for over two decades on the board of the American Foundation for AIDS Research and was active in San Francisco on a daily basis with alcohol and drug rehabilitation, Latino immigrant ministries, and care for the elderly and homeless. Swing founded the United Religions Initiative as a model to the United Nations. In 1996 he traveled to China, Japan, South Korea, India, the Middle East, and Europe seeking guidance and commitment from leaders of many of the world’s religions, including the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

, the

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...

of Kanchipuram, Islam’s Grand Mufti of Egypt, and the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. In 2008 the Bishop Swing Community House, a permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless adults, in the

South of Market, San Francisco South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city's museums ...

was named after him.

Bibliography

'' A Bishop's Quest'' (2015), Xoxox Press ''A Swing with a Crosier'' (1999), Episcopal Diocese of California ''The Coming United Religions'' (1998), CoNexus Press ''Building Wisdom’s House'' (1997), Addison Wesley Longman, co-authored with Rabbi Stephen Pearce, John Schlegel, S.J., and Bonnie Menes, KahnPublisher

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swing, William E. Living people 1936 births Episcopal bishops of California Kenyon College alumni Virginia Theological Seminary alumni People from Huntington, West Virginia

Education

Priest and Bishop

Work

See also

Bibliography

References