William Alan "Bill" Jenkins Sr. (born 1963) is an American

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop. He is currently the 13th bishop ordinary of the

Reformed Episcopal Church The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican Church. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), Protestant Episcopal Church. The REC is a founding member of the ...

Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic The Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, with the Convocation of Eastern Canada, formerly known as the New York and Philadelphia Synod, is a founding jurisdiction of the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1873 and, more recently, a founding dioce ...

(NEMA). Prior to his election as

coadjutor bishop 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 ...

, he was canon to the ordinary in the diocese.

Early life, education, and family

Jenkins was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, in 1963, and was raised in a congregation of the

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...

Evangelical Methodist Church of America The Evangelical Methodist Church of America (or Evangelical Methodist Conference) Christian denomination based in the United States. Ardently Fundamental, the denomination has its roots in a movement of churches that broke away from Mainline M ...

. He received a bachelor's degree in religious education and pastoral studies from Manahath School of Theology, the denominational school in

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, and studied for a master's degree in religious education at Manahath. According to Jenkins, his thesis was rejected because he had moved away from the school's fundamentalist and

premillennial Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the Earth (the Second Coming) before the Millennium, heralding a literal thousand-year messianic age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a liter ...

theology. Before he could complete his degree, the institution closed and relocated to Virginia as Breckbill Bible College. Jenkins is pursuing continuing theological studies at

Reformed Episcopal Seminary The Reformed Episcopal Seminary is a Private university, private seminary in Oreland, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1887 as the first seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church. History The Reformed Episcopal Seminary was founded in 1887 in W ...

. While studying at Manahath, he met his future wife, Kimberley. They married in August 1982 and have six biological children, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They also fostered five children.

Ministry career

In 1983, Jenkins was ordained to the diaconate in the Methodist tradition, and in 1985 he was ordained as a presbyter. He served from 1985 to 1986 as the pastor of an Evangelical Methodist Church in Tennessee and from 1986 to 1988 as the pastor of a non-denominational

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in Cambridge, Maryland. Both charges ended unhappily, Jenkins has said, and he questioned the call to ordained ministry and worked in the business sector. He also moved away from

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Reformed theology Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, serving in the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...

briefly before being received into the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1990. Faith-church-5

Jenkins' first call in the REC was as rector of Emmanuel REC in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

's Mayfield neighborhood. Less than a year later, he was asked to take over an additional role as rector of the struggling Faith REC in the nearby Armistead Gardens neighborhood. At the time, Faith's congregation had dwindled to 12 and Jenkins' original plan was to merge Faith with Emmanuel. Instead, Faith grew to self-sustaining size and Emmanuel was merged into it in 2006. Jenkins remains rector of Faith and has also held numerous diocesan roles, including canon to the ordinary starting in 2014 under Bishops David L. Hicks and Chuck Gillin. On November 3, 2022, the NEMA synod elected Jenkins its next bishop coadjutor. ACNA consent was granted on January 11, 2023, and he was consecrated on April 29, 2023, at

Bishop Cummins Reformed Episcopal Church Bishop Cummins Reformed Episcopal Church is a Reformed Episcopal Church congregation in Catonsville, Maryland. Founded in 1874, the building it occupied in Baltimore from 1879 to 1961 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under t ...

. Jenkins succeeded Gillin as bishop ordinary on January 2, 2025.

Financial writing

Jenkins was also a writer and editor for publications of Agora Financial, including serving from 2008 to 2010 as editor of Agora's ''

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Trading Masters'' product. During these years, he also wrote for Agora publications the Daily Reckoning and Money Morning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, William 1963 births Living people Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America 21st-century Anglican bishops in the United States Bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church Christians from Maryland