Reginald Heber Weller, Jr. (November 6, 1857 – November 22, 1935) was an Episcopal priest and bishop active in the ecumenical movement, establishing a dialogue among Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Early life

The son of an Episcopal priest, Reginald Heber Weller, Jr., was born in Jefferson City, Missouri or

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

"Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRT1-3HG : 12 December 2014), R. H. Weller in entry for Weller, 06 Oct 1891; citing Stevens Point, Portage, Wisconsin, reference cn 177; FHL microfilm 1,305,144. on November 6, 1857. He was educated in Florida, where his family moved when he was a boy. After attending the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

, Weller received his degree of Bachelor of Divinity at

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically conservative seminaries i ...

in 1884. He was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1880. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1884 at All Saints’ Mission,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, after serving his diaconate there. Weller was married to Bessie Brown in 1886 in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

. They had one daughter, Ruth, and five sons, Daniel, George, Walter, Horace, and Reginald.

Priesthood

Rectorships at Christ Church, Eau Claire, and St. Matthias, Waukesha, were served before he became rector at Church of the Intercession, Stevens Point, where he was at the time of his election to be Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac in 1900.

Election as Bishop

He was consecrated coadjutor on November 8, 1900, at the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle in Fond du Lac. The

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

bishop of Alaska,

Saint Tikhon Tikhon (russian: Ти́хон, uk, Ти́хон, Ти́хін, pl, Tychon) is a Slavic male given name of Greek origin, related to Western European Tycho. * Tikhon Bernstam (born 1979), American Internet entrepreneur * Tikhon Chicherin (1869–1 ...

, was present as well as of the Polish National Catholic Church. Bishops

Charles Chapman Grafton Charles Chapman Grafton (April 12, 1830 – August 30, 1912) was the second Episcopal Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Early life and education Born on April 12, 1830, in Boston, Massachusetts, he became an ardent supporter of the Oxford M ...

and Weller were photographed with these and other bishops wearing

cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A c ...

s and

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

s, a "Catholic" practice which was not widely accepted in the "Protestant" Episcopal Church at that time. The photo, published widely back east, became known as the Fond du Lac Circus.

Service as Bishop

During his thirty-three years of active service, a longer episcopate than any other in the state at the time, Weller preached in all parts of the country. He held many positions of importance in the church and became widely known in England. He became diocesan bishop on August 30, 1912, after the death of Grafton. He held the position of Superior General of the

Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (CBS), officially the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional society in the Anglican Communion dedicated to venerating the Real Presence of Christ in the Eu ...

from 1913 to 1935, succeeding Grafton who held the office from 1890 to 1912. In 1919, Weller was a member of the Commission on Faith and Order, which went abroad for a world conference on the fundamentals of the Christian religion seeking to restore communion among

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, and Anglican Christians. Attendants at the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

in 1930 found Weller taking an active part in its deliberations and preaching in several English cathedrals. At home or abroad, Weller was a defender of the faith, a stirring, convincing preacher of great ability, a wise pastor, generous friend, and a man of God. Weller held many preaching missions, especially in the eastern United States. He took an active and influential part in the deliberations of the

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

. On St. Andrew's Day, November 30, 1929, Weller acted as the chief consecrator at the consecration of Harwood Sturtevant as the Bishop Coadjutor of the diocese. Four years later in November 1933, Bishop Sturtevant succeeded Weller as the fourth bishop of the diocese. He died on November 22, 1935, at the home of his son George in Aurora, Illinois.

References

External links