This Week in Texas Methodist History July 14

Travis Park Honors Former Pastors Who Became Bishops  July 23, 1939

Trivia Question:  Which Texas Methodist church can claim the most pastors who were elected bishops?  Houston First? Dallas First? Highland Park?  Polk Street?  El Paso Trinity?

Actually I haven’t bothered to go through the records to find the winner.  Perhaps a reader of this blog already has.  Conditions of a previous era made it more likely that one church would be served by several preachers who later elected bishops.  The first condition was that there was a four year rule.  Itinerancy once meant itinerancy.  Preachers moved often.  At the end of the 4^th year  the pastor had to move.  An informal circuit of the large membership, high salary churches developed.   An elite group of preachers known for their pulpit prowess rotated among the highest paying churches. ---Trinity, El Paso, First Houston, First Dallas, First Birmingham, Boston Ave. in Tulsa, Polk Street in Amarillo , among others.

A key to being elected bishop both before 1939 when General Conferences elected them and after 1939 when the jurisdictions elected bishops, was garnering support from several conferences besides one’s own.  Episcopal candidates needed visibility in several conferences to get enough votes for election.

   In the 19^th century the visibility beyond one’s own conference was achieved mainly by college presidents and staff members at the denominational newspapers and boards such as the Board of Missions.  College presidents traveled among the conferences raising funds, and denominational officers duties also took them to the conferences on official business.  

In the early twentieth century that tradition lingered –as with the election of Bishops Ward and Tigert-but increasingly the candidates were “giants of the pulpit’ who served the big churches in several conferences and thereby forged connections in several conferences.  I would place the Smith brothers, W. C. Martin, Arthur Moore, and many others.

Travis Park, San Antonio, was on the circuit, and in July 1939, it celebrated its former pastors who were later elected bishop.  They were John M. Moore (1898-1902),  Edwin Mouzon (1904-1908),  Arthur Moore (1920-1926), and Paul Kern (1926-1930).  Mouzon was deceased.  Bishop John Moore preached that day and a marble plaque was affixed to a wall and dedicated. 

The election of Travis Park pastors to the episcopacy did not end in 1939.  Kenneth Copeland was elected in 1960.  

In the later 20^th century and burgeoning bureaucracies in all the conferences, delegates began favoring pastors with management experience over pulpit prowess.  The four year rule was discarded so the “giants of the pulpit” who once rotated among the large churches tended to remain at the same church for 20 years or even more.   Service as a District Superintendent or perhaps the Provost office became more valuable to episcopal candidates.