A former US Navy and US Maritime officer took the helm of the Diocese of Georgia in 1985. Harry Woolston Shipps, born in 1926 in Bordentown, New Jersey. Married in 1953, he and his wife Louise have four children. He attended Bordentown High School, Bordentown Military Institute, and the New York State Maritime Academy. In 1946, he was commissioned an officer in the US Navy and the US Maritime Service. He sailed on a troop ship, then with Grace Line Steamship Company until called to active duty in the Navy in 1953 during the Korean War. On discharge, he attended the School of Theology at the University of the South as a postulant from the Diocese of Georgia being a parishioner of St. Paul’s Church in Savannah. Ordained a deacon in May 1958 and a priest the following January, he first served as Vicar of St. Mark’s in Albany. From 1963 until 1970 Bishop Shipps served Holy Apostles, Savannah, then St. Alban’s, Augusta until 1983, when elected Bishop Coadjutor.
He was consecrated bishop at Christ Church in Savannah on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1984. Bishop Shipps served as coadjutor to Bishop Reeves. Early in his episcopate, Bishop Shipps called the Rev. J. Robert Carter, Vicar of Trinity in Statesboro to serve as Canon to the Ordinary.
Bishop Shipps attended the 1988 Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, reporting to Diocesan Convention of 1989 that the experience was an exceptional educational experience making him deeply aware of the size and variety of cultures in the worldwide communion of 70 million people.
Bishop Shipps was active in the House of Bishops. He was a founding bishop of The Irenaeus Fellowship of Bishops, representing a moderate-conservative position in the House of Bishops. Meeting regularly, the group consisted of 64 members of the House of Bishops. A strong supporter of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, he was Chair of the House of Bishops Prayer Book and Worship Committee at the 1994 General Convention. He served twelve years on the Episcopal Church Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations, where he served as Chair of the Theological Committee.
Bishop Shipps and The Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard, Roman Catholic Bishop of Savannah, held several joint clergy conferences with noted speakers from both Churches. This led to a Covenant between the two dioceses calling for a number of programs and responsibilities on the part of each.
In 1994 the diocesan budget was $1,350,211. The Georgia Episcopal Conference Center (Honey Creek) showed an operating surplus of $9,017. The Corporation of the Diocese reported a balance of $5,232,721. In 1994 the diocese reported 17,197 baptized persons. The bishop reported in his Convention Address that the Diocese of Georgia had the second highest average Sunday attendance of all 99 dioceses in the country and that our stewardship average per Sunday was also second highest in the Church.
Noting that the Diocese of Georgia is one of few Episcopal Church dioceses without a cathedral, In 1993 Bishop Shipps designated St Paul’s, Savannah as his personal or Pro Cathedral, signing a document to this effect at a liturgical event in St. Paul’s. Bishop Shipps’ retirement Eucharist was celebrated in St. Paul’s in January 1995, on the eve of Bishop Louttit’s consecration. Bishop Shipps died on November 17, 2016 and is buried at St. Paul’s in Savannah.
Note: This article was edited from one written by Bishop Shipps. The full text is online here: Bishop Shipps’ Episcopacy.
Pictured: (top) Bishop Harry Shipps is pictured during his consecration on January 6, 1984, and (bottom) Bishop Shipps is shown with the Most Rev. Raymond Lessard, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah.
