Albion Williamson Knight Jr. (1 June 1924 – 22 May 2012) was the second Archbishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America from 1989 until his resignation in 1992. As the Archbishop of the UECNA, Knight more than tripled the number of parishes belonging to the church. He later helped found the

Church of England (Continuing) The Church of England (Continuing) is part of the Continuing Anglican Movement. Although the church was widely discussed in Anglican circles at the time of its founding, it has not achieved significant growth since that time. In 2019 the church h ...

, a conservative church in England that opposes both the growth of Anglo-Catholic practices and doctrines within the Church of England and the more liberal religious and social stance of the Church of England. Knight was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Albion Williamson Knight (1891-1953) and Anna Marion née Russell (1893-1966). He was the grandson of

Albion W. Knight Albion Williamson Knight (August 24, 1859 - June 9, 1936) was a bishop in the Episcopal Church, serving in Cuba and the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey. History He was born in White Springs, Florida and educated at the University of the South. ...

, formerly Bishop of Cuba in the Episcopal Church in the USA and subsequently Bishop Coadjutor of New Jersey. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1945, and retired from the Army in 1973 as a Brigadier General. He earned master's degrees from the University of Illinois and American University. Knight was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church in the USA in 1964 and as a priest in that church in 1965. He joined the United Episcopal Church of North America in late 1983 and later became the bishop of its Eastern diocese (1984) before being elected its Archbishop (1985). He was consecrated in Bethesda, Maryland on 2 June 1984 by

Charles D. D. Doren Charles Dale David Doren was the first bishop consecrated to serve the Continuing Anglican movement, which began in 1977 in reaction to decisions taken in 1976 at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He wa ...

, the first bishop in the Continuing Anglican movement and first Archbishop of the UECNA. During his tenure, Knight sponsored the creation of a denominational Seminary, reorganized the Church into Missionary Districts, and embarked on a revision of the Constitution and Canons which was initially voted on in 1991. This changed the title of the senior bishop in the UECNA to Presiding Bishop. However, he resigned in 1992 to pursue his political aspiration, and was succeeded as Presiding Bishop by John Cyrus Gramley (1931 to 1996). In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, Knight was the vice-presidential candidate of the

US Taxpayers Party The Constitution Party, formerly the U.S. Taxpayers' Party until 1999, is a political party in the United States that promotes a religious conservative view of the principles and intents of the United States Constitution The Const ...

in the

U.S. presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not direc ...

. Knight died on 22 May 2012, at his home in Gaithersburg, Maryland.Obituary: Albion W. Knight Jr., Army brigadier general
''Washington Post'', 28 May 2012

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Albion W. Jr. 1924 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American politicians American Continuing Anglicans Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Maryland Constitutionalists Constitution Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Presiding Bishops of the United Episcopal Church of North America 1992 United States vice-presidential candidates