Background
Sims, Bennett Jones was born on August 9, 1920 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Lewis Raymond and Sarah Cosette (Jones) Sims.
( In a style that's both personal and analytical, retired...)
In a style that's both personal and analytical, retired Episcopal Bishop Bennett Sims offers a penetrating critique of the extremist religious and political assumptions that underlie the domestic and foreign policies of President George W. Bush. He contrasts two radically opposed conceptions of power. Both concepts are found in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures. The concept of power represented by the President is the centuries-old one of male-dominant, militarist imperialism, co-opted in recent history by a fierce Fundamentalism that forecasts an imminent and violent end of history. The other is the enduring power of compassion, justice, and nonviolence exemplified by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus of Nazareth. This book celebrates the movement of prophetic power from the shadows of history to the foreground of political action.
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Sims, Bennett Jones was born on August 9, 1920 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Lewis Raymond and Sarah Cosette (Jones) Sims.
AB, Baker University, 1943. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Baker University, 1985. Postgraduate, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1947.
Bachelor's Degree, Virginia Theological Seminary, 1949. Doctor of Divinity, Virginia Theological Seminary, 1966. Doctor of Divinity, University South, 1972.
Merrill fellow, Harvard University, 1965. Postgraduate, Catholic University, 1971.
Upon retirement from the Diocese in 1983, Sims founded the Institute for Servant Leadership at Emory University and served as president of the institute until 1999. In 1943, he earned a Bachelor from Baker University. During World World War II, Sims served in the United States Navy as a line officer on destroyers.
In June of that year, he was ordained as deacon and in April 1950 he was ordained a priest.
Both times he was ordained by Noble C. Powell, Bishop of Maryland. Sims became Curate at Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1949 and two years later was named its rector, serving until 1962.
That year he served as priest-in-charge at Saint Alban"s Church in Tokyo, Japan. From 1963 to 1964, he served as Rector of Christ Church in Corning, New York, participating in the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Junior.
From 1964 to 1965 he was a Harvard fellowship
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. He returned to VTS, receiving a Doctorate in Divinity in 1966. From 1966 to 1972 he was director of the Continuing Education Department at Virginia Seminary, also serving, in 1969, as priest-in-charge at Saint Alban"s Church in Tokyo, Japan, and studied systematic theology at The Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia (1969-1971).
In 1972, Sims was elected bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta.
During his episcopacy, he was in strong opposition to the rising divorce rate, and spoke about his preference for the integrity of marriage vows.
Among the issues receiving his support and leadership were racial integration of the public schools, revision of the Episcopal prayer book, the ordination of women, and, ultimately, the acceptance of homosexuals in the church. Upon retirement from the Diocese of Atlanta, he founded the Institute for Servant Leadership at Emory University in 1983.
From 1980 to 1988, Sims held a visiting professorship at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. Sims married a second time on August 27, 1988, to Mary Page Welborn, and together they moved the Institute for Servant Leadership to Hendersonville, North Carolina.
He continued to serve as president of the institute until his retirement in 1999.
Sims died at the age of 85 at his home on July 17, 2006. Sims is the author of five books: Invitation to Hope: A Testimony of Encouragement (1974). Purple Ink: A Selection of the Writings of Bennett J. Sims as Bishop of Atlanta (1982).
Servanthood: Leadership for the Third Millennium (1997).
Why Bush Must Go: A Bishop’s Faith-Based Challenge (2004). And The Time of My Life: A Spiritual Pilgrimage Grounded in Hope (2006).
John Eldridge Hines, 22nd Presiding Bishop
Randolph Royall Claiborne, Junior., 5th Bishop of Atlanta
William Davidson, 6th Bishop of Western Kansas.
( In a style that's both personal and analytical, retired...)
Trustee University of South. With United States Naval Reserve, 1943-1946.
Son of; children: Laura (Mistress John P. Boucher), Grayson, David.