Introduction
The Episcopal Church
in this region conducted its first worship service on Feb. 23, 1878. The
service was conducted by the Right Reverend Alexander C. Garrett, the
first missionary bishop of Northern Texas, in the log cabin of Captain
John Trent near Dudley in western Callahan County. It was the first
service held in what would become the diocese of Northwest Texas. An
historical marker commemorating the spot where this service was held is
extant and can be visited in the small rural town of Dudley, Texas,
approximately 11 miles southeast of Abilene. Its location is
approximately west of Texas State Highway 36 and 100 yards east of FM
1178 South. It was erected by the parish of the Heavenly Rest and
Scottish Rite Masonry of Dallas.
By late1881, an Episcopal mission known as St.
Paul's, (later to be renamed to Heavenly Rest) had been organized in the
fledgling town of Abilene; a township that had been settled only a year
earlier with the coming of the railroad and whose tracks currently split
the city in half along North and South First Streets. The comforting and
distant wail of a train whistle can still be heard when leaving the
church after service; a warm reminder of our city's past and historical
richness that can still bring a smile to the face of observant souls.
This, with the historical architecture just one block west of the church
on Sayles Blvd., attests to the fact that the Episcopal church in
Abilene was here from Abilene's earliest beginnings and continues to
root itself in the history of the city of now 100,000 persons.
Bishop Garrett, the first Bishop of the New
Missionary District
Enough cannot be said of the influence and
tireless ambition of Bishop Alexander Garrett. Bishop Garrett, by his
actions and ministry, exemplified and defined the term
"apostle" for the modern times of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. He was a tireless worker and an eloquent speaker, sometimes
called "the Chrysostom of the American Church" for his
silver-tongued eloquence.
Bishop Garrett was called to be the first
missionary Bishop of Northern Texas while serving as Dean of
Trinity Cathedral in
Omaha, Nebraska, in
May of 1875. Bishop Garrett did not flinch at an analysis of the
"vast" territory of Texas for which he had become responsible.
Travel was difficult due to the extreme distances between towns on the
northwest Texas frontier. The Texas Central Railroad and the Texas &
Pacific Railroad granted him free passes on trains throughout Texas. A
Ladies' Episcopal Society in Long Island, New York, presented him with a
pair of Texas ponies to help him in his travels and many mission
committees appropriated money for his traveling expenses.
Conditions in this area, but a mere 120 years
ago, were crude and primitive. Bishop Garrett with his customary Irish
humor, noted, at one place he visited, his approval of a fence that had
been completed around the church yard and stated:
" The hogs which roam at large must now
seek other shelter than that afforded by the beautiful trees around
the Sanctuary; and the 'service of song' is no longer disturbed by the
sonorous breathings of sleepy swine." 1
In order to grasp the "wild west"
feel of the region at that time, Bishop Garrett observed that there were
occasions when churchgoers "...by an excessive use of a fragrant
weed, produce an extravagant action of the salivary glands, and dispense
tobacco juice with a frequency and violence exceedingly injurious to the
walls and flooring." (Journal
of the Second Annual Convocation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
the Missionary District of Northern Texas, Dallas, 1876, p. 24).
Such was life in the "western wilds", as he so lovingly
referred to the ground upon which we place our feet each day -- and once
again we have an occasion for a private smile.
Bishop Garrett was born on Nov. 4, 1832 and
belonged to one of the oldest families in Ireland. His father was the
Rev. John Garrett of Ballymote, County Sligo, who along with his
grandfather and great-grandfather had been rectors of the same parish.
He attended a school for the sons of Irish clergy in Lucan, near Dublin
and graduated summa cum laude
in June, 1850. He then enrolled in Trinity College, Dublin and graduated
on May 29, 1854. He entered Trinity College School of Divinity after
attaining baccalaureate status to pursue graduate studies. He later
served in parishes in England, Canada, Omaha, Nebraska and San
Francisco, California before being called to the missionary bishopric of
North Texas.
The missionary diocese was adopted on May 6-8,
1875 by the meeting of the Primary Convocation of the Missionary
District of Northern Texas, held at
St.
Matthew's Episcopal Church, Dallas. Bishop Garrett set up St.
Matthew's as his cathedral for missionary activities. Under his
aegis, many missionary parishes were established on the plains of west
Texas including those in Big Spring, Lubbock, Midland, San Angelo and
Abilene. Under his leadership, these parishes steadily, but slowly, grew
while others were being established. Finally, in 1958, Bishop Garrett's
legacy and dream were rewarded when the region became formally known as
the Diocese of Northwest Texas.
Subsequent Bishops of the Missionary
District of North Texas
By 1910 there were missions established in
nearly every town served by the railroads, and Bishop Garrett presented
a plan for the division of the Diocese of Dallas to the General
Convention whereby a missionary district would be established. As soon
as the Missionary District of North Texas was created in 1910, the
Rt. Rev. Edward Temple was elected as
Bishop. In the new district, there were only two organized parishes
which included Heavenly Rest,
Abilene, and St. Andrew's,
Amarillo. The primary convocation of the district met in Abilene on May
23-24, 1911, with two parishes, 20 organized missions, and nine
preaching stations.
In 1925 the Rt.
Rev. Eugene C. Seaman was consecrated
Second Missionary Bishop of North Texas. Bishop Seaman retired in 1945.
The House of Bishops, after considering the division the district among
neighboring dioceses, elected the Rt.
Rev. George H. Quarterman as the third
Missionary Bishop. Bishop Quarterman was consecrated in 1946, and
launched a program of fiscal and missionary growth aimed at bringing the
struggling missionary district to diocesan status. He succeeded in just
12 years, and the Diocese of Northwest Texas became a reality in 1958
with the Rt. Rev. George H. Quarterman as first Bishop.
Upon Bishop Quarterman's retirement, the Rt.
Rev. Willis R. Henton became the Second
Bishop of the Diocese of Northwest Texas on April 21, 1972. In June,
1980, Bishop Henton became the first American diocesan bishop to be
translated from one diocese to another, following his election as the
first bishop of the new Western Diocese of Louisiana. On Dec. 13, 1980,
the Rt. Rev. Sam Byron Hulsey
became the third Bishop of the Diocese of Northwest Texas.
The fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Northwest
Texas, and currently "in cathedra", is the Rt.
Rev. Charles Wallis Ohl, Jr. He was
called to the Holy Seat in 1997. He resides in Lubbock and the diocese
looks forward to further growth and development under his leadership.
The Diocese of Northwest Texas today has 17
parishes, 18 missions, five congregations, four University Centers, a
Conference Center in Amarillo and Diocesan Headquarters in Lubbock.
