Henry Knox Sherrill

{{Short description|American bishop (1890–1980)}} {{use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific-prefix = [[The Most Reverend]] | name = Henry Knox Sherrill | honorific-suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | title = [[List of presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America|20th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church]] | image = Henry Knox Sherrill.jpg | alt = | caption = | church = [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = | elected = | appointed = | term = 1947–1958 | term_start = January 1, 1947 | quashed = | term_end = November 14, 1958 | predecessor = [[Henry St. George Tucker (bishop)|Henry St. George Tucker]] | opposed = | successor = [[Arthur C. Lichtenberger]] | other_post =  | ordination = May 9, 1915 | ordained_by = [[William Lawrence (bishop)|William Lawrence]] | consecration = October 14, 1930 | consecrated_by = [[James De Wolf Perry]] | rank =  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1890|11|06}} | birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], New York, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|05|11|1890|11|06}} | death_place = [[Boxford, Massachusetts]], United States | buried = Cone Hill Cemetery in [[Richmond, Massachusetts]] | religion = [[Anglican]] | residence = | parents = Henry Williams Sherril, Maria Knox | spouse = Barbara Harris | children = 4 | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = [[Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts|Bishop of Massachusetts]] <small>''(1930–1947)''</small> | education = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />{{nowrap|[[Episcopal Theological School]] ([[BDiv]])}} | alma_mater = | motto = | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | other = }} '''Henry Knox Sherrill''' (November 6, 1890 – May 11, 1980) was an [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] bishop. He was the 20th [[Presiding Bishop]] of the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] from 1947 to 1958, having previously served as [[Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts|Bishop of Massachusetts]] (1930–1947).

==Biography== Henry Knox Sherrill was born in [[Brooklyn]], New York, to Henry Williams and Maria (Prue) Knox Mills Sherrill.<ref name=yale>{{cite news|work=Yale University Library|title=Henry Knox Sherrill Papers|url=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/SaxonServlet?style=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/EAD/yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&source=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedora/get/divinity:067/EAD}}</ref> His father died when he was ten-years-old, and his mother raised him to be religiously observant.<ref name=churches>{{cite magazine|date=1951-03-26|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=The Church & Churches|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,805953.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104141020/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,805953.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2012}}</ref> He graduated from Brooklyn's [[Poly Prep Country Day School|Polytechnic Preparatory School]] in 1906, after which he attended the [[Hotchkiss School]] in [[Lakeville, Connecticut|Lakeville]], [[Connecticut]], for a year.<ref name=yale/> At age sixteen, he entered [[Yale College]], from where he obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1911.<ref name=presiding>{{cite news|work=Episcopal Church of the United States of America |title=Henry Knox Sherrill (1947-1958) |url=http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78712_77802_ENG_HTM.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407193303/http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78712_77802_ENG_HTM.htm |archivedate=2010-04-07 }}</ref> While a student at Yale, he taught [[Sunday school]] at St. Paul's Church in [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] and experienced a call to the ordained ministry. One of his greatest mentors at Yale was [[Henry Sloane Coffin]], a [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)|Presbyterian]] theologian and educator.<ref name=churches/> He earned his [[Master of Divinity]] degree from the [[Episcopal Divinity School|Episcopal Theological School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], in 1914.<ref name=presiding/> Sherrill was [[Holy Orders|ordained]] to the [[Deacon|diaconate]] on June 7, 1914, and to the [[priest]]hood on May 9, 1915.<ref name=presiding/> He then served as an assistant minister at [[Trinity Church, Boston|Trinity Church]] in [[Boston]] until 1917, when he became a [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]] [[chaplain]] at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]]. He later became an [[United States Army|Army]] chaplain, with the rank of First Lieutenant, at Base Hospital 6 in [[Talence]], France.<ref name=churches/>

Upon his return from the war service, he served as [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of the [[Church of Our Saviour, Brookline|Church of Our Saviour]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts|Brookline]] from 1919 to 1923.<ref name=yale/> In 1921, he married Barbara Harris, with whom he had four children: Henry Williams, Edmund Knox, Franklin Goldthwaite, and Barbara Prue.<ref name=yale/> He then returned to Boston's Trinity Church, where he had begun his ministry, as rector.<ref name=presiding/> In addition to his duties as rector, he served as a [[professor]] at the Episcopal Theological School and the [[Boston University School of Theology]], and was active in various civic and religious organizations, including the Greater Boston Council of Churches.<ref name=presiding/> He also proved to be a gifted fundraiser, increasing Trinity's average annual contribution to the national church from $30,000 to $35,000—one of the largest of any Episcopal parish in the country at that time.<ref name=churches/> In 1928, he was elected [[Coadjutor bishop]] of the [[Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania|Diocese of Pennsylvania]], but declined the position.<ref name=yale/><ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-05-04 |title=DR. SHERRILL ELECTED BISHOP COADJUTOR; Boston Rector Chosen by Pennsylvania Episcopal Diocese Defeated "High Church" Nominee. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/04/archives/dr-sherrill-elected-bishop-coadjutor-boston-rector-chosen-by.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On Oct. 14, 1930, Sherrill was consecrated the ninth Bishop of Massachusetts. He served in that position until June 1, 1947, when he resigned to become Presiding Bishop. He served on the [[President's Committee on Civil Rights]] in 1946 for President [[Harry Truman]]. From Jan. 1, 1947, until Nov. 14, 1958, he was Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. At the General Convention of 1943, a canon was passed which required the Presiding Bishop to tender to the House of Bishops the resignation of his previous jurisdiction to take effect on the date of assuming the office of Presiding Bishop or no later than six months thereafter.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Sherrill was the first Presiding Bishop chosen after this canon was passed. While Presiding Bishop he led in the organization of the [[Episcopal Church Foundation]] and the establishment of the [[Seabury Press]]. He decided to move the 1955 General Convention from Houston to Honolulu, due to the former city's segregation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1954-06-21 |title=Religion: The Eyes of the World |url=https://time.com/archive/6798315/religion-the-eyes-of-the-world/ |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1955-09-19 |title=Religion: Reformation Church |url=https://time.com/archive/6802835/religion-reformation-church/ |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Sherrill was the founding President of the [[National Council of Churches]] from 1950 to 1952, and one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches from 1954 until 1961. He resigned as Presiding Bishop in 1958 for reasons of health.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In 1953, Sherrill delivered the [[Prayers at United States presidential inaugurations|benediction]] at the inauguration of President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In 1959, he led the consecration of his son, [[Edmund Knox Sherrill]], as an Anglican bishop in Brazil.<ref name=LambethX>{{cite book |author=James Beasley Simpson |date=1969 |title=The Long Shadows of Lambeth X: a critical, eye-witness account of the tenth decennial conference of 462 bishops of the Anglican Communion |page=301 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |quote=Edmund Knox Sherrill...was consecrated in 1959 by his father, Henry Knox Sherrill}}</ref>

== Death == Sherrill died in [[Boxford, Massachusetts]], and is buried at Cone Hill Cemetery in [[Richmond, Massachusetts]].

== Legacy == Sherrill House, a nursing and rehabilitation center in [[Jamaica Plain]], Boston, is named in his honor.<ref name="SHHISTORY">[http://sherrillhouse.org/about/history.php "Sherrill House: About"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129054332/http://www.sherrillhouse.org/about/history.php |date=2015-01-29 }}, Sherrill House website.</ref>

Sherrill Hall, a freshman dormitory at [[Hobart and William Smith Colleges|Hobart College]], is also named in his honor.

The American operatic baritone [[Sherrill Milnes]] was named after him (see Milnes' memoirs, ''American Aria'').

==See also== * [[List of presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] * [[List of Episcopal bishops of the United States]] * [[List of bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Historical list of the Episcopal bishops of the United States]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Henry Knox Sherrill}}

{{s-start}} {{S-rel|ep}} {{succession box |title=[[List of Presiding Bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America|20th Presiding Bishop]] |before=[[Henry St. George Tucker (bishop)|Henry St. George Tucker]] |after=[[Arthur C. Lichtenberger]] |years=January 1, 1947 – November 14, 1958}} {{succession box |title=[[List of bishops in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts|Bishop of Massachusetts]] |before=[[Charles Lewis Slattery]] |after=[[Norman Burdett Nash]] |years=1930–1947}} {{s-end}}

{{Presiding Bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherill, Henry Knox}} [[Category:Religious leaders from Brooklyn]] [[Category:Hotchkiss School alumni]] [[Category:Yale College alumni]] [[Category:Presiding Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] [[Category:1890 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:Episcopal bishops of Massachusetts]] [[Category:Medal for Merit recipients]] [[Category:Poly Prep alumni]] [[Category:Episcopal Divinity School alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American Episcopalians]] [[Category:20th-century American Christian clergy]]