William Lawrence (7th Bishop of Massachusetts)

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William Lawrence, (1850–1941), was elected as the 7th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (1893–1927). William Lawrence was the son of the notable abolitionist Amos Adams Lawrence and a member of the influential Boston family, founded by his great-grandfather and American revolutionary, Samuel Lawrence. His grandfather was the famed philanthropist Amos Lawrence.

[edit] Education and Career

William Lawrence graduated from Harvard College, as was the tradition in his family, and earned his D.D. from Harvard Divinity School in 1897. The Right Reverend Lawrence was later honored with an LL.D. from the Harvard in 1910 presented by his cousin and then Harvard President, A. Lawrence Lowell.

Bishop Lawrence is best known for founding the church pension system. He was also known as "the banker Bishop" because his fund raising drives "invariably developed with Midas-like magic." Financier, J. P. Morgan, Jr. served as Treasurer of the Church Pension Fund from its founding in 1918.

While Bishop Emeritus, William Lawrence was involved in an effort to proposition a new Book of Common Prayer to the Church of England. Also, while in retirement, the Bishop realized the need for a chapel at Massachusetts General Hospital and in the late 1930's, as the White Building was under construction, convinced of the importance of faith and spirit in healing, he sent over fifteen hundred hand-written letters to friends of the Hospital asking for their support "in this bit of pioneer hospital work." Over eight hundred people of all faiths responded.

His sons, following in his footsteps also became Bishops of the Episcopal Church. William Appleton Lawrence was elected 3rd Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts (1925–41) and Frederic C. Lawrence was elected Suffragan Bishop to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (1956–68).

[edit] Famous quote

The "banker Bishop" is quoted as having said, "In the long run it is only to the man of morality that wealth comes... We, like the Psalmists, occasionally see the wicked prosper, but only occasionally. Godliness is in league with riches.”