wfn.org | [ENS] Obituary: Bishop Scott Field Bailey of West Texas dies at 88

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Obituary: Bishop Scott Field Bailey of West Texas dies at 88

ENS 041205-1

[ENS, Source: Diocese of West Texas] -- The Rt. Rev. Scott Field Bailey
was
born in Houston in 1916, graduated from Rice University in Houston, and
attended The University of Texas Law School prior to choosing to go into
the
ministry. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Virginia
Theological Seminary in 1942, and was ordained to the priesthood by
Bishop
Quin of Texas. He married Evelyn Louise Williams in November of 1943 and
entered the Navy as a chaplain that same year, eventually serving in the
South Pacific Theater.

As a priest, Bailey became rector of several Texas parishes as the
Baileys
raised four children: two daughters and two sons. By 1961 he was Canon
to
the Ordinary in the Diocese of Texas and was elected Suffragan Bishop in
that diocese in 1964. He served as Secretary to the House of Bishops
from
1967 until 1986, and served as executive officer of the General
Convention
from 1974 to 1976. Bishop Bailey was close friends and advisor to
presiding
bishops John Allin and John Hines, who often disagreed politically, and
is
often credited with being a reconciler between the two.

Bishop Bailey was installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of West Texas
in
1977, facing two divisive problems of the day: the final approval of the
new
Book of Common Prayer and the ordination of women. The new BCP had been
tried and tested for 25 years, and Bailey declared it a "grand
compromise"
in its retention of Rite 1 as the most beloved section of the 1928
Prayer
Book, and Rite 2 as offering a new look; with both offering something
for
everyone. In 1979, when the last hurdle for adoption was passed, he
ordered
it into use immediately. The ordination of women was a far more
difficult
problem, and Bishop Bailey insisted that Church unity was far more
important
than the gender of priests.

Bishop Bailey came into his term at a time when confirmations and
receptions
were falling across the Episcopal Church. One of his greatest points of
accomplishment was that during his 10 years in office, he established 10
new
parishes in West Texas.

Bishop Bailey is survived by his wife, four children, seven
grandchildren,
and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 13, at St. Mark's
Episcopal
Church in San Antonio. Inurnment will be in the columbarium at the
Bishop
Jones Center in San Antonio.

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