Fond du Lac's Bishop Consecrated
Episcopal News Service. September 11, 1980 [80307]
FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- The Rev. William Louis Stevens was ordained and consecrated Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac on September 7, with the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop, as the consecrator. The service was held at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle here.
Serving with Bishop Allin as co-consecrators were the new bishop's predecessor as bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. William H. Brady; the Rt. Rev. Charles T. Gaskell, Bishop of Milwaukee; the Rt. Rev. Stanley Atkins, Bishop of Eau Claire, and the Rt. Rev. James L. Duncan, retired Bishop of Southeast Florida.
Bishop Stevens was elected to the episcopate on the second ballot at the diocese's 106th annual council meeting in Fond du Lac on May 10. He had been rector of St. Benedict's Church of Plantation, Fla., since 1961.
Bishop Stevens' first episcopal act was to appoint Bishop Brady senior canon of the cathedral and then he was immediately enthroned as the sixth bishop of the diocese.
The Rt. Rev. James W. Montgomery, Bishop of Chicago, was the preacher at the 4 p. m. service.
A native of Yuba City, Calif., Father Stevens received his B.A. degree from San Francisco State College and his S.T.B. degree from General Theological Seminary, New York City. He has been a priest since 1957.
He was curate at St. Luke's Church, San Francisco, 1956-57, and then senior curate at St. Saviour's Church, London, England, from 1957 to 1959. He was a novice in the Order of the Holy Cross, West Park, N.Y., 1959 to 1961. He came to St. Benedict's in 1961, first as vicar of the mission, and then became rector when it achieved parochial status.
In the Diocese of Southeast Florida, Father Stevens was chairman of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission and a member of the Board of Examining Chaplains. He was also a member of the Executive Board of the diocese. From 1961 to 1978 he was dean of the Broward Convocation.
Last year the Diocese of Fond du Lac reported 40 missions and parishes, 45 clergy, 10,863 members and 8,160 communicants.