Otis Charles

Bishop E. Otis Charles (born April 24, 1926 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.^[1]

Career

Originally from New Jersey, he served first as a priest in Connecticut. From 1968 until 1982 he was a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission, which developed the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1971, he was elected Bishop of Utah. He was active in the peace movement, and opposed Nevada and Utah being launching sites for the MX missile. In the House of Bishops, Charles was chair of the Prayer Book Committee and a member of the Bishops' Committee on Racism. Charles became Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in 1985. Charles also has significant academic achievements, including a Doctorate of Divinity, and a Doctorate of Sacred Theology.

Personal life

Charles was married for 42 years and has five children.^[2] After his retirement in 1993, Charles publicly came out as gay, the first Christian bishop ever to take such a step.^[3] Soon after he and his wife divorced. He currently resides with his same sex spouse in San Francisco, where he helped to found the California branch of the Oasis Commission.

References

1. ^ "Charles, Otis. Utah". http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/bishops/0047.html. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 
2. ^ "The Battle over Same-Sex Marriage". San Francisco Chronicle. 2004-04-29. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/29/BAGTN6CD4E54.DTL. Retrieved 2011-11-23. 
3. ^ "Profile: Right Rev. Otis Charles, DD, STD". The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Religious Archives Network. 2003-06-03. http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?A=C&ID=129. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 

External links

• OtisCharles.com

Episcopal Church (USA) titles
Preceded by Richard S. Watson	8th Bishop of Utah 1971–1993	Succeeded by George E. Bates

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Name	Charles, Otis
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Date of birth	1926-04-24
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