Edward L. Parsons

He was ordained to the diaconate on December 23, 1894, by Bishop William Lawrence of Massachusetts, and to the priesthood on June 9, 1895, by Bishop Henry C. Potter of New York. He was initially assistant at Grace Church in New York City from 1894 to 1895. In 1896 he moved to California to serve as rector of Trinity Church in Menlo Park, California. Between 1900 and 1904 he was rector of St Matthew's Church in San Mateo, California, while in 1904 he became rector of St Mark's Church in Berkeley, California, where he remained until 1919.^[3]

Parsons was elected on the third ballot to be coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of California and was consecrated on November 5, 1919, by Bishop William Ford Nichols of California. He then succeeded as diocesan bishop on June 5, 1924, and remained in office until his retirement on December 31, 1940.^[1] After retiring from his position with the church, he joined the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union board of directors, serving as chairman from 1941 to 1956 and remaining on the board for the rest of his life.^[4]

He was a member of the University Club of San Francisco. He was an author of several books including The American Prayer Book: Its Origins and Principles (1937). He married Bertha de Forest Brush on May 18, 1897, and had four children.^[5] He died in San Francisco in 1960, at age 92.^[4]