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The Right Reverend

Edward Randolph Welles II
The Right Reverend; Edward Randolph Welles II
Bishop of West Missouri
Church	Episcopal Church
Diocese	West Missouri
Elected	December 6, 1949
In office	1950-1972
Predecessor	Robert Nelson Spencer
Successor	Arthur A. Vogel
Orders
Ordination	April 1931 (deacon); October 1931 (priest); by Paul Matthews
Consecration	April 19, 1950; by Henry Knox Sherrill
Personal details
Born	April 20, 1907; Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Died	April 15, 1991 (aged 83); Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Denomination	Anglican
Parents	Samuel Gardner Welles & Mabel De Geer
Spouse	Catharine Van Alstyne (m. 1931; died 1983); Martha Borland Willis (m. 1984; died 1984); Ferne Bingham Malcolm (m. 1984)
Children	4

Edward Randolph Welles II (April 20, 1907 – April 15, 1991) was the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri, serving from 1950 to 1972.

Early life and education

Welles was born on April 20, 1907, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of the Reverend Samuel Gardner Welles and Mabel De Geer. His grandfather was the Bishop of Milwaukee Edward R. Welles. He was educated at Kent School and later studied at Princeton University from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1928. He then undertook studies at the University of Oxford from where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1930, and a Master of Arts in 1934. He also attended the General Theological Seminary from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1932. He was awarded a Doctor of Sacred Theology from General in 1950, and a Doctor of Divinity from Nashotah House and Missouri Valley College, respectively and both in 1950.^[1]

Ordained ministry

Welles was ordained as a deacon in April 1931 and as a priest in October 1931 by Bishop of New Jersey Paul Matthews. He served as the rector of Trinity Church in Woodbridge, New Jersey, between 1931 and 1934. He was also the chaplain at St Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, from 1934 until 1936. He then was elected dean of All Saints Cathedral in Albany^[1] and in 1940 became rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1944, he was then elected as the dean of St Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York, where he remained until 1950.^[2]

Bishop

On December 6, 1949, Welles was elected as the forth Bishop of West Missouri and was consecrated on April 19, 1950, in Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral by Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill.^[3] During his episcopacy the number of communicants in his diocese increased, and 12 new congregations were created. He was president of the board directors at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, between 1950 and 1969, and then chairman of the Board from 1969 until 1972. He retired as Bishop of West Missouri in 1972. Between 1973 and 1990, he served as Assistant Bishop in Maine. He died quietly in his sleep on April 15, 1991, at his home in Kansas City, Missouri.^[4]

He was a pioneer for supporting the ordination of women. It was in 1974, that he joined two other retired bishops in the first ordination of female priests in The Episcopal Church.^[5]^[6]

Family

Welles married three times. First to Catharine Van Alstyne on June 2, 1931, who died in 1983, and had four children. He then married Martha Borland Willis on January 23, 1984, but who died shortly after in April 1984. Finally he married Ferne Bingham Malcolm on November 2, 1984.

References

^ ^a ^b Morehouse, Linden (1951). "Bishops Consecrated in 1950". The Living Church Annual: the Yearbook of the Episcopal Church. New York: Morehouse-Gorham Company. p. 7. OCLC 7000417.
^ "West Missouri Bishop Elected". The New York Times. December 7, 1949. p. 29. The Rev. Edward Randolph Welles, 42 years old, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, was named Bishop of the West Missouri Diocese
^ "Episcopal Bishop Consecrated". The New York Times. April 20, 1950. p. 38. The Very Rev. Edward Randolph Welles today was consecrated Bishop of the West Missouri Episcopal Diocese.
^ "Memorial: Edward Randolph Welles '28". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University. 1991.
^ The Associated Press (July 20, 1974). "11 Women May Be Ordained as Priests". The New York Times. p. 29. Three Episcopal bishops disclosed plans yesterday to ordain 11 women as priests in defiance of the church's laws and practice.
^ Hein, David; Shattuck, Gardiner (2004). The Episcopalians. New York: Church Publishing. p. 141. ISBN 9780898694970.