William Henry Stuart Jerdan Jr. ( 1915 – March 29, 2001) was an American Reformed Episcopal bishop. He was the presiding bishop 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 ...

(REC) from 1987 to 1990 and bishop ordinary of the church's jurisdiction in the Southeastern United States from 1960 to 1987.

Biography

Jerdan was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and graduated from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

with his M.Div. In the 1943, he began a prayer group in

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...

that within four years became Calvary Reformed Episcopal Church. In 1958, Jerdan was sent to

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, South Carolina, Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley County, South Carolina, Berkeley and Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston ...

, as field director for the REC's Missionary Jurisdiction of the South. In 1960, he was set apart as a bishop for the jurisdiction, which he served for the next 26 years. The jurisdiction formally became the Charleston, Atlanta and Charlotte Synod in 1973 and then the Diocese of the Southeast following the reorganization of the REC into dioceses in 1984. In 1987, Jerdan was elected to a three-year term as presiding bishop. He stepped down as diocesan bishop and was succeeded by

Sanco Rembert Sanco King Rembert (November 11, 1922–August 14, 2015) was an American Anglican bishop notable for being the first African-American bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Consecrated in 1966 to assist in the REC's Missionary Jurisdiction of t ...

, the first African-American REC bishop, who served the predominantly black Diocese of the Southeast. Jerdan died in 2001 in Summerville. He was survived by his wife Eleanor, four sons and a daughter.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerdan, William 2001 deaths Bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church Presiding Bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church 20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States Temple University alumni Year of birth uncertain