Gavin, Frank Stanton Burns

(Oct. 31, 1890-Mar. 20, 1938). He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gavin received his A.B. from Cincinnati University in 1912; and his M.A. in 1914 and Ph.D. in 1922 from Columbia University. In 1915 he received his S.T.B. from the General Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon on May 15, 1914, and priest on Apr. 7, 1915. Gavin also received the B.H.L. from Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, in 1918. After ordination to the priesthood, he served a year at St. Luke's Church, Cincinnati. Gavin then entered the novitiate of the Society of St. John the Evangelist at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He never took permanent vows. While at Cambridge he received the S.T.M. in 1917 and the Th.D. in 1919 from Harvard University. In 1919-1920 he taught in the preparatory department at Nashotah House. In 1920-1921 he studied Greek theology in Athens, and in 1921-1923 he was professor of NT at Nashotah House. In 1923 Gavin joined the faculty of the General Theological Seminary, where he was professor of ecclesiastical history until his death. He wrote numerous books about Eastern Orthodoxy and was a leader in the Episcopal Church in the ecumenical movement. He edited Liberal Catholicism and the Modern World (1934), which described the liberal catholic position in the Episcopal Church. Gavin died in New York City.