Charles E. Bennison

Charles Ellsworth Bennison, Jr. is the 15th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Education and Family

Bishop Bennison was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 30, 1943, and was baptized at St. Luke’s in Hastings, Minnesota, on December 24, 1943. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1965. In 1965-66, he studied at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and then attended Harvard Divinity School, where he received a B.D., in 1968 and a Th.M. in 1970. He earned his M.A. from the Claremont Graduate School in 1977, and S.T.M. from Union Theological Seminary in 1992. He was honored with a D.Div. from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1997.

Married to the former Joan Kathryn Reahard, the bishop has two daughters, Sarah and Kathryn.

Early Career

Ordained a deacon in 1968 and a priest in 1969, Bishop Bennison began his full-time ministry in 1971 as rector of St. Mark’s Church in Upland, California, where he was founder of St. Mark’s Episcopal School, St. Mark’s Homeless Shelter, and new congregations in Rancho Cucamonga and Chino, California.

In the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, he chaired the Program Group on Social Relations and the Standing Committee, served as president of the Corporation of the Diocese, taught at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, and was a frequent reader of the General Ordination Examinations. He served as a member of Venture in Mission Board, the Los Angeles Jewish-Christian-Muslim Trialogue, the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission, and numerous other bodies. In 1987, he was recognized by the Pomona Valley Council of Churches for outstanding leadership in ecumenical affairs.

Later Career

In 1988-91, he was rector of St. Luke’s Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he substantially raised stewardship giving, broadened the participation of laity in the governance of the parish, and initiated a process leading to the acquisition of significant real estate holdings. His role in the John Bennison abuse scandal surfaced toward the end of his tenure at St Luke's. In a 1992 letter, Bennison refers to how his brother's "well-known troubles ... bolster[ed] the negative opinions about me on the part of some of my antagonists in Atlanta ... possibly contributory to ... my involuntary termination there."

Bishop Bennison has been a fellow of the College of Preachers and a Masland fellow at Union Theological Seminary. In 1992, he was elected to the faculty of Episcopal Divinity School, where he served as associate professor of Pastoral Theology and founded the program in Congregational Studies. He has published articles in Anglican Theological Review.

Bishop of Pennsylvania

He was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania at a special convention held on October 19, 1996, at the Cathedral Church of the Savior in Philadelphia. He was consecrated co-adjutor on February 27, 1997, at the Deliverance Evangelistic church in Philadelphia and became diocesan bishop on May 16, 1998.

Publications

• Bennison, Charles E. In Praise of Congregations: Leadership in the Local Church Today. 1998.

External Links

• Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
• Philadelphia Cathedral