Satterlee, Henry Yates

(Jan. 11, 1843-Feb. 22, 1908). Bishop and founder of the Washington Cathedral. He was born in New York City. Satterlee received his B.A. from Columbia College in 1863 and studied for the ordained ministry at the General Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon on Nov. 21, 1865, and priest on Jan. 11, 1867. He began his ministry as an assistant at Zion Parish, Wappinger Falls, New York, and later became the rector. In 1882 Satterlee became the rector of Calvary Church, New York, and served there until he was consecrated the first Bishop of Washington on Mar. 25, 1896. He served as Bishop of Washington until his death. Under his leadership the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul was founded, and the cornerstone was laid on Sept. 29, 1907. He saw it as a cathedral for the whole nation. Satterlee believed that a cathedral was the bishop's church, where the bishop could exercise pastoral ministry. The cathedral would be the mother church of the diocese and would be the center of the diocese's missionary and educational work. The most important of his books is A Creedless Gospel and the Gospel Creed (1895), in which he stressed the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Satterlee died in Washington. See Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, The.