Background

William Ragsdale Cannon was born on April 5, 1916, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. He was a son of William Ragsdale Cannon and Emma McAfee Cannon, and was raised in Dalton, Georgia, United States.

Education

In 1937, William received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Georgia in Athens. Then, he continued his education at Yale Divinity School, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1940. Later, in 1942, Cannon attained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Yale University.

He also received several honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from Wesleyan College in 1980, an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from LaGrange College in 1980, an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1982, an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Duke University in 1983 and others.

Career

In 1940, Cannon was ordained a deacon. Between 1942 and 1943, he worked briefly at Allen Memorial United Methodist Church in Georgia as a pastor and at Oxford College of Emory University as an instructor in Bible studies. In 1943, William began a twenty-five-year stint at the Candler School of Theology at Atlanta’s Emory University. He served as a professor of Church history there, and later, between 1953 and 1968, as a dean.

Also, Cannon was regularly elected as a delegate to United Methodist Jurisdictional and General Conferences, beginning in 1948. In 1965, he had the high honor of being a Protestant observer at the Vatican II Council of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome.

In 1968, Cannon became a bishop of the Raleigh Area United Methodist Church, where he remained until 1972, and he later held the same position in Richmond (1970-1972), Atlanta (1972-1980) and again in Raleigh (1980-1984). Upon his retirement in 1984, William served as a bishop-in-residence at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.

During the administration of Jimmy Carter, Cannon served as an unofficial envoy of the President. In 1984, William gave bicentennial Episcopalian address during the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. In 1985, he was one of ten Non-Roman Catholics to be invited to Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Vatican. In 1994, William became a co-founder of The Confessing Movement of the United Methodist Church. This movement focused on the Church's mission to "retrieve its classical doctrinal identity and to live it out as disciples of Christ".

During his career, William also served as a president of the North American Section of the World Methodist Council and of the World Methodist Conference. He was also co-chairperson of Conversations of Methodists and Roman Catholics at the International Level. Moreover, he acted as a member of the board of trustees at Emory University, Asbury College and Duke University.

In addition, Cannon was an author of more than a dozen books, including "A Faith for These Times", "The Theology of John Wesley", "History of Christianity in the Middle Ages", "Jesus the Servant", "The Gospel of John" and "The Book of Acts".

Achievements

• William Ragsdale Cannon was a prominent bishop of the United Methodist Church. In 1965, he was chosen a Protestant observer at the Vatican II Council of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome. In 1983, Cannon was named a Citizen of Year by the State of North Carolina. In 1984, he delivered the episcopal address at the General Conference - the highest honor, conferred on a bishop by his/her episcopal colleagues.
  
  In 1994, Cannon obtained the Heroes, Saints and Legends Award. Later, in 1995, he was a recipient of the citation with his picture from Pope John Paul II for outstanding contribution to Roman Catholic-World Methodist Ecumenical Dialogue.
  
  Cannon Chapel at Emory University is named in his honor.

Works

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  • History of Christianity in the Middle Ages: From the fall of Rome to the fall of Constantinople 1960
  • The Theology of John Wesley 1946
  • Evangelism in a Contemporary Context 1974
  • Jesus the servant: From the Gospel of Mark 1978
  • Book of Acts 1989

Views

As a bishop, Cannon stressed Christian education and evangelism, and was known for his classically orthodox, Wesleyan positions.

Membership

William was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Theta Phi and Phi Kappa Phi.

Connections

William was never married.

Father:

William Ragsdale Cannon

Mother:

Emma McAfee Cannon

Friend:

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 to 2005.

References

• A Magnificent Obsession: The Autobiography of William Ragsdale Cannon Bishop Cannon's autobiography is a portrait of a life, filled with constant action, the overwhelming majority of it in the service of The United Methodist Church. Bishop Cannon's style and substance are evident in the chapters of this book, which describe his early life, with its memorable and humorous stories, and through his education and formation and years as dean of Emory's Candler School of Theology on his way to becoming a bishop. "A Magnificent Obsession" will be of special interest to aficionados of United Methodism and Methodist heritage.
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