Henry St. George Tucker (bishop)

For other people named Henry St. George Tucker, see Henry Tucker (disambiguation).

Henry St. George Tucker (July 16, 1874 – August 8, 1959) was the 19th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

The Most Reverend Henry St. George Tucker
19th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
Church	Episcopal Church
Elected	October 1937
In office	1938–1946
Predecessor	James De Wolf Perry
Successor	Henry Knox Sherrill
Other post(s)	Bishop of Virginia (1927–1943)
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Osaka (1912–1923) Coadjutor Bishop of Virginia (1926–1927)
Orders
Ordination	July 30, 1900 by Alfred Magill Randolph
Consecration	March 25, 1912 by John McKim
Personal details
Born	(1874-07-16)July 16, 1874 Warsaw, Virginia, United States
Died	8 August 1959(1959-08-08) (aged 85) Richmond, Virginia, United States
Buried	Virginia Theological Seminary
Nationality	American
Denomination	Anglican
Parents	Beverley D. Tucker & Anna Maria Washington
Spouse	Lilian Warnock
Children	2

Early life and career

Tucker's parents were Episcopal priest, and later Bishop of Southern Virginia, Beverley Dandridge Tucker, and Anna Maria Washington (Tucker). Tucker was descended from St. George Tucker of Williamsburg. He was educated at the University of Virginia, graduating with a BA and MA in 1895. His field was mathematics. Thereafter he studied at the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, graduating as a Bachelor of Divinity and subsequently being ordained to the priesthood on July 30, 1900.^[1]

First arriving in 1899, Tucker served for twenty four years as a missionary in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church in Japan. He served alongside the British Anglican Hugh James Foss, as joint bishop of the Osaka diocese, and later in 1913 was appointed Bishop of Kyoto. In 1903 he became President of St. Paul's College in Tokyo, an establishment that in 1922 gained formal recognition as Rikkyo University.^[2]

During 1918 Tucker worked alongside lay medical missionary Rudolf Teusler in Siberia supervising civilian relief work under the auspices of the Red Cross. During this period Tucker also held the rank of major in the Allied Expeditionary Force.

In 1923 Tucker returned to the United States, becoming both Professor of Pastoral Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary and bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. Succeeding as Bishop of Virginia in 1927, Tucker eventually became the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, thus becoming the leader of all Episcopalians in the United States. At the 1940 General Convention, he preached against "aggressive nationalism" and asked the bishops to refrain from smoking during sessions.^[3] As an Episcopal presiding bishop, St. George Tucker is honored with a window in the Washington National Cathedral. He was the first bishop to hold this position full-time, rather than on top of a continuing diocesan appointment.

Tucker also authored a book on the history, growth, and development of the Episcopal Church in Japan.^[4]

References

1. Hein, David (2000). "Tucker, Henry St. George". Tucker, Henry St. George (1874-1959), clergyman. American National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0801551.
2. Hein, David (2004). The Episcopalians. New York: Church Publishing Incorporated. p. 306. ISBN 0-89869-497-3.
3. TIME (October 21, 1940). "Religion: Triennial in a Warring World". TIME. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
4. Tucker, Henry St. George. The History of the Episcopal Church in Japan. New York and London: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1938.

Episcopal Church (USA) titles
Preceded by James DeWolf Perry	19th Presiding Bishop 1938–1946	Succeeded by Henry Knox Sherrill
Preceded by William Awdry	Joint Bishop of Osaka 1912–1923	Succeeded by John Yasutaro Naide