Albion Williamson Knight Jr. (1 June 1924 – 22 May 2012) was the second Archbishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America (UECNA) from 1989 until his resignation in 1992. During his tenure, Knight more than tripled the number of

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

belonging to the church. He later helped found the

Church of England (Continuing) The Church of England (Continuing) is part of the Continuing Anglican Movement. It was founded in 1994. Since 2008 the church has regularly exhibited at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Esher, Surrey and elsewhere in England. It publishes a ...

, a conservative church in

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that opposes both the growth of

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practices and doctrines and the more liberal religious and social stance of the

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Personal life

Knight was born on June 1, 1924 in

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to Albion Williamson Knight (1891–1953) and Anna Marion née Russell (1893–1966). He was the grandson of Albion W. Knight (1859–1936), the former Bishop of

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in the Episcopal Church (TEC) and subsequently

Bishop Coadjutor A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

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. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1945, and retired from the

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in 1973 as a Brigadier General. He earned

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from the

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and

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. Knight died on May 22, 2012 at his home in

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Career

Knight was ordained a

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in TEC in 1964 and as a priest in 1965. He joined the UECNA in late 1983 and became the bishop of its Eastern diocese in 1984 before being elected its Archbishop in 1985. He was consecrated in Bethesda, Maryland on June 2, 1984 by Charles D. D. Doren, the first bishop in the

Continuing Anglican movement The Continuing Anglican movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion. The ...

and first Archbishop of the UECNA. During his tenure, Knight sponsored the creation of a denominational

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, reorganized the church into missionary districts, and embarked on a revision of the UECNA Constitution and Canons, which was initially voted on in 1991. The revision changed the title of the senior bishop in the UECNA to Presiding Bishop. He resigned in 1992 to pursue his political aspiration, and was succeeded as Presiding Bishop by John Cyrus Gramley (1931–1996). Knight was the vice-presidential candidate of the U.S. Taxpayers Party in the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

.Davies, Philip John. ''US Elections Today.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 1999.

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Albion W. Jr. 1924 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American politicians American Continuing Anglican bishops Presiding Bishops of the United Episcopal Church of North America Maryland Constitutionalists Constitution Party (United States) vice presidential nominees 1992 United States vice-presidential candidates Burials at Arlington National Cemetery