| The Rt. Rev. J. Michael Garrison | | Print | |
Tenth Bishop of Western New York J. Michael Garrison was elected Bishop of Western New York on
December 5, 1998 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo and consecrated as bishop on April 24, 1999. In October of that same
year, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the General
Theological Seminary in New York.Bishop Garrison was born in Philadelphia on April 7, 1945, the son of Rosemary and Jack Garrison. He was educated there until his family moved to Burns, Oregon, in 1959. When his family relocated to North Highlands, California, in 1961, he began to attend Mount Angel Seminary's High School, near Salem, Oregon. He continued in the college department until 1965, when he transferred to the Pontifical College Josephinum near Columbus, Ohio. There he earned a B.A. degree and studied theology, receiving a Masters in Religious Education degree in 1970. In that same year he was ordained to the diaconate and in 1971 to the Roman Catholic priesthood. Bishop Garrison transferred to the Episcopal Church in 1974 and worked at Camp Galilee at Lake Tahoe and at Saint Paul's in Sparks, Nevada, during his preparation for reception into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church. He was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church by Bishop Wesley Frensdorf, Bishop of Nevada, in 1975. From 1975 until 1979 he served in the small parishes of central Nevada. In 1979 he began serving congregations as regional vicar. As Bishop of Western New York he has supported baptismal ministry development and youth ministry efforts. Bishop Garrison has been married to Carol Sohanney Hill since 1990 and is the father of three daughters, one stepdaughter, and two stepsons. |