Parsons, Edward Lambe

(May 18, 1868-July 19, 1960). Bishop and liturgist. He was born in New York City. Parsons received his B.A. in 1889 from Yale, and graduated from Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1892. In 1892-1893, he was a fellow at the University of Berlin. He graduated from Episcopal Theological School in 1894. Parsons was ordained deacon on Dec. 23, 1894, and priest on June 9, 1895. He was assistant at Grace Church, New York, 1894-1895, and rector of three churches in California: Trinity Church, Menlo Park, 1896-1900; St. Matthew's Church, San Mateo, 1900-1904; and St. Mark's Church, Berkeley, 1904-1919. On Nov. 5, 1919, Parsons was consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of California. On June 5, 1924, he became the third Bishop of the diocese. He retired on Dec. 31, 1940. During many of his years in California, Parsons was lecturer in liturgics at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He served on the Standing Liturgical Commission from 1930 until 1946. Parsons was a member of numerous ecumenical, welfare, and social service agencies. He published a number of books, articles and sermons. One of his most significant books is The American Prayer Book: Its Origins and Principles (1937), which he wrote with Bayard Hale Jones. Parsons followed the tradition of Phillips Brooks and the liberal evangelicals, who stressed the critical study of the scriptures and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Parsons died in San Francisco. See Jones, Bayard Hale.