Thomas Jenkins (January 31 1871 – May 28 1955) was an English‑born missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. He served as the Missionary Bishop of Nevada from 1929 until his resignation in 1942, and later held assistant bishop positions in Oregon and Long Island.
Early life and education
Born in Shenley, Buckinghamshire, England, Jenkins was the son of John Jenkins and Mary Ann Boyles. He emigrated to the United States at age 19. He pursued higher education at Kenyon College and Bexley Hall, receiving a Bachelor of Divinity in 1914 and a Doctor of Divinity in 1924.
Ordination and early ministry
Jenkins was ordained a deacon on June 29 1900 at St John’s Church in Worthington, Ohio, and a priest on June 20 1901 at St Paul Cathedral in Cincinnati. Between 1900 and 1902 he participated in the Cincinnati Associate Mission. From 1902 to 1910 he served as a missionary in Alaska. He then became rector of St Paul’s Church in Fremont, Ohio (1910–1915) and later rector of St David’s Church in Portland, Oregon, until 1925. In 1925 he was appointed General Missionary and Educational Secretary of the Diocese of Oregon.
Episcopacy
In 1928 Jenkins was elected Missionary Bishop of Nevada. He was consecrated on January 25 1929 by Presiding Bishop John Gardner Murray at Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. During his episcopate (1929–1942) he oversaw the growth of Episcopal ministries throughout Nevada. He resigned in May 1942.
Later ministry
After retiring from the Nevada diocese, Jenkins authored a biography of Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe of Alaska and returned to missionary work in Oregon. He served as Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island from 1946 to 1949.
Personal life
Jenkins married Ruth Mary Prichard on August 15 1901; she died in 1940. He remarried Edith Smith in May 1942. He was the father of seven children. Jenkins died on May 28 1955 in Anaheim, California, at the age of 84.
References
- “Episcopate: Bishop Jenkins to Assume Missionary Work in Oregon,” The Living Church, 5 Sept 1943.
- “Episcopate: Bishop Jenkins Dies,” The Living Church, 12 June 1955.
- Who’s Who in the West, vol. 4, 1954.