Prayer for the Dead
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REMEMBER thy servant Harry, Bishop, O Lord, according to the favour which thou bearest unto thy people; and grant that, increasing in knowledge and love of thee, he may go from strength to strength, in the life of perfect service in thy heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
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The Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps
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In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God a son of our parish, the Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps. Mass will be said for Bishop Shipps tomorrow, November 18th, at 12:10pm in the Lady Chapel. An image of Bishop Shipps can be found on the north wall of our Sacristy.
The following is the announcement from the Diocese of Georgia, the diocese he served during most of his ordained life:
The Diocese of Georgia mourns the death of the Rt. Rev. Harry Woolston Shipps, the eighth Bishop of Georgia (1983-1994). He died this morning with his beloved wife, Louise, by his side. A Requiem Eucharist for Bishop Shipps will be held at the Collegiate Church of St. Paul the Apostle on Tuesday, November 22 at 11 AM. Clergy are asked to vest in cassock, surplice, and tippet. The Rt. Rev. Scott Anson Benhase said of Bishop Shipps: "He was a man of great character and purpose, always ready to listen and offer good counsel. He was enormously helpful to me as one who had sat in the chair I now occupy. I could always count on him to give me perspective and needed humor on the Office of Bishop. He was a great leader of this Diocese because he loved God's people so much. He was quite simply and humbly, a disciple of Jesus." Born on January 28, 1926 in Bordentown, New Jersey, Bishop Shipps attended Bordentown High School, Bordentown Military Institute, and the New York State Maritime Academy. On January 9, 1946, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Maritime Service. He sailed on a troop ship, then with Grace Line Steamship Company, until called to active duty in the Navy during the Korean War. He was assigned to a Naval facility in Savannah, then to shipboard duty in the North Atlantic. He married the former Louise Huntington in 1953. Following his discharge from active duty, he attended the School of Theology, University of the South, as a postulant sponsored by the Collegiate Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Savannah. Ordained a deacon in 1958 and a priest in January 1959 by Bishop Albert Rhett Stuart, he was first assigned by Bishop Stuart as Vicar of St. Mark's Church in Albany. Later, he served parishes in Savannah and Augusta. Prior to his election as bishop, he served the Diocese as Diocesan Secretary, Editor of the diocesan newspaper, member of Diocesan Council, President of the Standing Committee, and as a Deputy to three General Conventions. He was Rector of St. Alban's, Augusta and the Dean of the Augusta Convocation when he was elected Bishop Coadjutor on September 15, 1983 and consecrated on January 6, 1984. He became the Diocesan Bishop in 1985 upon the retirement of Bishop Paul Reeves. Initially opposed to the ordination of women to the priesthood, primarily on the grounds that it would impair ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Shipps early in his episcopate instituted a listening process to hear the diverse diocesan positions on the ordination of women, which The Episcopal Church permitted after its 1976 General Convention. Marking a change in his previous position, he initiated a process leading to women's ordination in the Diocese. Susan Harrison of Savannah was ordained to the diaconate in September 1985. Sonia Sullivan of Valdosta was later accepted as a postulant for the priesthood and ordained. Bishop Shipps and fellow ecumenist, the Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard, Roman Catholic Bishop of Savannah, held several joint clergy conferences with noted speakers from both Churches. This led to a Covenant between the two dioceses calling for a number of mutual ministries and responsibilities. During Bishop Shipps' tenure as diocesan bishop, the Diocese of Georgia made headlines when a former Assembly of God minister, Stan White, led his entire congregation to join the Episcopal Church becoming the congregation of Christ the King in Valdosta. Under Bishop Shipps' leadership, a capital campaign raised $1.1 million. These funds enabled the Diocese through matching fund grants to double the number of lodge rooms at Honey Creek Conference Center, build church buildings for Atonement, Augusta; Holy Cross, Thomson; Trinity, Statesboro; St. Elizabeth's, Richmond Hill, and Grace, Sandersville. Land was also purchased in Effingham County and Columbia County. In 1994 the Diocese reported 17,197 baptized persons. Bishop Shipps' reported in his Convention Address that year that the Diocese had the second highest average Sunday attendance (relative to its baptized membership) of all the dioceses in the U.S. and that our stewardship average per household was also second highest in the Church. After his retirement as Bishop of Georgia in 1995, Bishop Shipps served as Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas for four years. He and Louise, a gifted icon writer, artist, and teacher, have four children: Ruth Shipps, Susan Anderson (Daniel), Rebecca Eidson (Gary), and David Shipps (Sydney); seven grandchildren: Carol Lewis; Katie Lucas (Jordan), Spencer McGuire, Kristin Campbell (Richard), Joshua Anderson (Cami), Hunter Eidson, Abigail Shipps and David Shipps Jr.; and three great-grandchildren: Lucas Campbell, Riley Campbell and Oliver Lucas.
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