Brice Sidney Sanders (October 15, 1930 – June 5, 1997) was sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina between 1983 till 1997.


Brice Sidney Sanders

D.D.
Bishop of East Carolina
ChurchEpiscopal Church
DioceseEast Carolina
In office1983–1997
PredecessorHunley A. Elebash
SuccessorClifton Daniel
Previous post(s)Coadjutor Bishop of East Carolina (1979-1983)
Orders
OrdinationFebruary 22, 1956
by John Vander Horst
ConsecrationOctober 26, 1979
by John Allin
Personal details
Born(1930-10-15)October 15, 1930
DiedJune 5, 1997(1997-06-05) (aged 66)
Greenville, North Carolina, United States
NationalityAmerican
DenominationAnglican
ParentsWaller Richard Sanders, Agnes Mortimer Jones
SpouseNancy Elizabeth Robinson
Children3
Alma materVanderbilt University

Early life and education

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Sanders was born on October 15, 1930, in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Waller Richard Sanders and Agnes Mortimer Jones. His brother, William Evan Sanders, served as the eighth Bishop of Tennessee. He studied at Vanderbilt University from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1952 and later at the Episcopal Theological School from where he earned his Master of Sacred Theology in 1955. On August 22, 1953, he married Nancy Elizabeth Robinson and together had three children. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1980 and another from the University of the South in 1984.[1]

Ordained ministry

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Sanders was ordained deacon in 1955 and priest on February 22, 1956, by Bishop John Vander Horst, Suffragan Bishop of Tennessee, at St James' Church, Union City, Tennessee.[2] He was in charge of St James' from 1955 to 1958.[3] In 1958 he became rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Fountain City, Tennessee, and in 1961 became rector of Eastern Shore Chapel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Between 1970 and 1975, he served as chaplain and associate dean for student affairs at Virginia Theological Seminary, before becoming Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi in 1975.[4]

Episcopacy

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On June 9, 1979, Sanders was elected on the second ballot, as the Coadjutor Bishop of East Carolina, during a special convention in New Bern, North Carolina.[5] He was then consecrated on October 26, 1979, by Presiding Bishop John Allin, at St Mary's Church in Kinston, North Carolina. He succeeded as diocesan bishop in August 1983 and remained bishop till his death in 1997.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Marquis Who's Who (1992). Who's who in Religion, p. 449. Marquis Who's Who, Berkeley Heights, NJ. ISBN 0837916046.
  2. ^ "Ordinations". The Living Church. 132: 20. 18 March 1956.
  3. ^ "People and Places". The Living Church. 137: 20. 20 July 1958.
  4. ^ "Brice Sidney Sanders (735)". The Episcopal Church Annual: 296. 1976.
  5. ^ "Additions to the Episcopate". The Living Church. 179: 7. 12 August 1979.
  6. ^ "Bishop Sanders of East Carolina Dies", Diocesan Press Service, 29 June 1997. Retrieved on 14 March 2020.