Steven Charleston (born February 15, 1949) is a retired American
Episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
bishop and academic. He was bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Alaska from 1991 to 1996, and dean of
Episcopal Divinity School, from 1999 to 2008.
Early life and education
Charleston was born and grew up in
Oklahoma and is a citizen of the
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United S ...
. In 1971 he received a bachelor's degree in Religion from
Trinity College in
Hartford, Connecticut, followed by a master's degree in Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School in 1976.
Ordained ministry
He later worked in Native American ministries and held various teaching positions.
In 1999, following the divisions exposed by the previous year's
Lambeth Conference
The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.
As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...
, he was the author of the
Cambridge Accord: an attempt to reach agreement on at least the
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
of
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
people, notwithstanding controversy within the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and oth ...
about the
churches' views of homosexuality.
As of 2017 Charleston was adjunct professor of Native American ministries at
Saint Paul School of Theology, based at
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and doctor ...
.
Via the web at the same time he described himself as a "Native American elder, author, and retired Episcopal bishop", and maintained a public presence through his Facebook page of daily spiritual reflections. He has
self-published
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...
several volumes of these reflections, plus two novels of a planned trilogy, through his company Red Moon Publications.
Bibliography
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* Self-published annual collections of Charleston's daily reflections:
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*Self-published novels:
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charleston, Steven
1949 births
Living people
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma people
Native American Episcopalians
Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni
Episcopal Divinity School alumni
Episcopal bishops of Alaska