Henry Nutt Parsley' (born 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee) is the Episcopal Bishop of Alabama, with his seat at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. He is also Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Henry attended the Porter-Gaud School, an Episcopal school in Charleston, South Carolina.
In January 2006, Bishop Parsley was nominated for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and came in second in balloting to Katharine Jefferts Schori during voting at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Columbus, Ohio.
On February 12, 2010, during his address at the 179th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, Bishop Parsley announced his plan to retire as diocesan bishop on December 31, 2011.
Henry Parsley was born in Memphis on October 29, 1948, son of the Rev. Henry Nutt Parsley and his wife Barbara. He attended the Porter-Gaud School, an Episcopal college preparatory school in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his undergraduate education in English literature at The University of the South (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1970), and his Master of Divinity from The General Theological Seminary (1973). He has studied at Oxford University in the areas of spirituality and soteriology, and received an honorary D.D. from the University of the South (1998) as well as a D.D. from General Theological Seminary (1998). He served in a number of parish churches in South Carolina and North Carolina and was for five years headmaster of a parochial school. His last parochial assignment was as rector of Christ Church, Charlotte (1986-1996). Bishop Parsley served as Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama for two years (1996-1998), before becoming diocesan bishop in 1999. He is the tenth Bishop of Alabama, and oversees 92 parishes, eight campus ministries, and several institutions that serve some 35,000 Episcopalians in the diocese, which encompasses the northern two-thirds of the state. In January 2006, he was nominated for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, coming in second in balloting to Nevada's Bishop Katharine Jefferts Shori during the General Convention of the Episcopal Church held that summer in Columbus, Ohio.
Bishop Parsley serves his undergraduate alma mater as Chancellor of the University of the South, the titular head of the institution, serving on the Board of Trustees and on the Board of Regents. He has been a preacher on the Protestant Hour (now Day 1) and active in many outreach ministries of the Episcopal Church including serving on the Board of the Presiding Bishops Fund for World Relief (now Episcopal Relief & Development). He served as a deputy to General Convention in 1982, 1985 and 1994. He is married to the former Rebecca Knox Allison (Becky). He and Becky are the proud parents of Henry III, a realtor who lives with his wife in Boone, North Carolina.
Known as a moderate in the wider Church, Bishop Parsley is highly respected among his peers in the House of Bishops, where he serves as Chair of the Theology Committee, and as a member of the Planning Committee. He has chaired the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development since 1998 and the Church Pension Fund's Abundance Committee since 2001.
Bishop Parsley announced his retirement, effective at the end of 2011. The new diocesan bishop was elected in July, and will be consecrated on January 7, 2012. [1]