David Ball (bishop)

David Standish Ball (June 11, 1926 – April 18, 2017) was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States from 1984 to 1998.

The Right Reverend

David Standish Ball
Bishop of Albany
ChurchEpiscopal Church
DioceseAlbany
ElectedOctober 10, 1983
In office1984–1998
PredecessorWilbur Hogg
SuccessorDaniel W. Herzog
Orders
OrdinationDecember 21, 1953
by Frederick L. Barry
ConsecrationFebruary 20, 1984
by John Allin
Personal details
Born(1926-06-11)June 11, 1926
Albany, New York, United States
DiedApril 18, 2017(2017-04-18) (aged 90)
Loudonville, New York, United States
BuriedAlbany Rural Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
DenominationAnglican
ParentsPercival Ledger Ball & Hazelton Vos
Previous post(s)Coadjutor Bishop of Albany (1984)
Alma materColgate University

Childhood, education and calling

David Standish Ball was born June 11, 1926, in Albany, New York, the son of Percival and Hazelton Ball. He attended The Milne School in Albany, where he was class president and a popular athlete. Ball served in the United States Navy during World War II. He graduated from Colgate University in 1950.[1]

He answered the call to holy orders in the Episcopal Church. He attended the General Theological Seminary in New York City from 1950 to 1953.[1]

He was ordained a deacon on June 14, 1953, and a priest on December 21, 1953, in Albany. He served as a curate at Bethesda Church in Saratoga Springs, in upstate New York, for three years.[1]

He was elected canon in 1956, serving until 1961.[1][2] He served three years as Canon Sacrist and two years as Canon Precentor.[1]

He was then elected dean of the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany in 1960,[2] and served over two decades, until 1984.[1] During that time, he served on a number of non-profit boards, including as President of the Dudley Park Housing Authority, which developed a housing project in Arbor Hill, Albany, New York.[1]

Bishop of Albany

On October 10, 1983, Ball was elected Bishop coadjutor of Albany at the age of 57.[1][3][4] In February 1984,[1] he was consecrated in apostolic succession by Presiding Bishop John Maury Allin,[5] bishop David E. Richards, formerly suffragan of Albany and then bishop of the Anglican diocese of Central America, and the incumbent sixth bishop Wilbur Emory Hogg.[6] Upon Bishop Hogg's retirement, in October 1984, Ball was installed in the cathedra in the choir at the Cathedral of All Saints, as the 7th Bishop of Albany.[1][7][8]

Ball served from 1984 to 1998 as the seventh Diocesan bishop of Albany.[1][7][8]

Ball opposed women's ordination in the 1970s and was briefly associated with the Episcopal Synod of America but later changed his position, serving with and ordaining female priests and deacons since at least 1989.[9]

He took part in several consecrations of other bishops, including that of his successors.[10][11] He was considered a conservative on issues such as apostolic succession.[12]

He retired in 1998, at the then mandatory retirement age of 72.[1]

In retirement

Upon his retirement, Ball was succeeded by then-bishop Daniel W. Herzog. Ball again became active in many local charities.[1][13] The Bishop Ball Golf Tournament, an annual fundraiser for the cathedral, is named in his honor.[14] The Doane Stuart School, on whose board he sat until mid-2008, named a trustee award for him.[15][16]

Ball continued to serve as Bishop-in Residence at the Cathedral of All Saints.[17] He gained a reputation on such issues as ecumenism[18][19] and alternate oversight in the Anglican Communion.[20][21][22]

Ball died in Loudonville, New York on April 18, 2017.[23]

See also

References
  1. George J. Marshall (ed.). "Looking Back 90 Years: The 90th Birthday of the Right Reverend David Standish Ball". The Albany Episcopalian. No. Vol. 13, Issue 3, May 2016. pp. 13–15.
  2. George E. DeMille, Pioneer Cathedral: A Brief History of the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, pp. 160, 181-183 (1961).
  3. "Bishop-Elect Chosen", Associated Press story, found in Palladium Times, October 11, 1983, see Fulton History website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  4. "Western Massachusetts, Albany Elect Bishops," press release, found at Episcopal News Service archives. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  5. See List of Presiding Bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
  6. San Joaquin Apostolic Succession datapgb
  7. History of the Albany Episcopal Diocese Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  8. The Episcopal Church Annual (2004 Morehouse Publishing), ISBN 0-8192-1970-3, found at Google Books website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  9. Mary S. Donovan, "Women as Priests and Bishops", UALR History Seminar, November 7, 1989; Revised February 13, 1992; July 20, 1992, found at Women as Priests and Bishops. Accessed March 30, 2008.
  10. Journal of the General Convention of ECUSA Archived 2006-01-31 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 14, 2008.
  11. Albany Episcopal Diosecse web site page on Bishop Love Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 14, 2008.
  12. Robert David Redmile, The Apostolic Succession and the Catholic Episcopate in the Christian Church of Canada, p. 68, found at Google Books. Accessed April 14, 2008.
  13. "See, for example: Historic Albany Foundation newsletter, p. 3" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  14. Cathedral calendar Archived 2007-05-25 at the Wayback Machine retrieved June 7, 2007.
  15. Social Scene, Albany Times Union, May 18, 2007, at p. E3. fee required
  16. "DC Counsel Receives Distinguished Trustee Award" May 18, 2006, David Standish Ball White, Case web site. Accessed April 14, 2008.
  17. "Cathedral of All Saints clergy web page". Archived from the original on 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  18. "Roman Catholic diocese of Albany web site". Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  19. Doane Stuart School a private school
  20. "Women as Priests and Bishops" by Mary S. Donovan, UALR History Seminar, November 7, 1989, Revised February 13, 1992; July 20, 1992 unpublished article by a CUNY professor Accessed April 22, 2008
  21. Times Union 30 March 2007
  22. Times Union 30 March 2007
  23. Grondahl, Paul (April 18, 2017). "Albany Episcopal Bishop David Ball dies at 90". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
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