W. R. Chilton Powell

Powell was ordained deacon in April 1938 and priest in November the same year by Bishop Douglass H. Atwill of North Dakota.^[2] He initially served as deacon-in-charge, and later as priest-in-charge of St James' Church in Grafton, North Dakota, St Peter's Church in Park River, North Dakota, St Luke's Church in Walshville, and the Church of the Redeemer in Bathgate, North Dakota. In 1940, he became curate at Gethsemane Church in Minneapolis and chaplain at St Barnabas Hospital in Minneapolis. In 1943, he was elected as Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, remaining there until 1951.^[3][4]

Powell was elected on the third ballot as coadjutor bishop of Oklahoma on June 5, 1951, and was consecrated on November 2, 1951, by Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill. He succeeded as diocesan bishop of Oklahoma after Casady's retirement in 1953.^[5] At Powell's election, there were 35 clergy and a diocesan budget of $100,000.00. Powell is best remembered as a missionary bishop. Under his care, the diocese opened many new missions all over Oklahoma, including the panhandle as well as St Crispin's, a new conference center in Seminole. While Bishop of Oklahoma, Powell also chaired the Prayer Book Commission that produced the 1979 Prayer Book. At the end of his episcopate, there were 77 congregations, missions and parishes.^[6]