John Shelby Spong

John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church, born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

John Shelby Spong was born on June 16, 1931 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He grew up attending fundamentalist churches and was heavily influenced by his mother's religious beliefs.

After his father died when he was 12 years old, Spong continued to attend church and became more involved in his faith.

He attended public schools in Charlotte and later went on to study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate.

He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955.

Spong was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1955.

He served as rector of St. Joseph's Church in Durham, North Carolina, from 1955 to 1957; rector of Calvary Parish, Tarboro, North Carolina, from 1957 to 1965; rector of St. John's Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, from 1965 to 1969; and rector of St. Paul's Church in Richmond, Virginia, from 1969 to 1976.

Spong became bishop coadjutor of Newark in 1976.

He was one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy (in 1977), and he was the first to ordain an openly gay man (Robert Williams in 1989).

He was one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy, in 1977, and he continued to support women's ordination throughout his career.

Spong argued that the church needed to be more inclusive and accepting of diversity, including gender diversity.

He served as the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey from 1979 to 2000.

Spong was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author who called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.

He was known for his progressive and controversial views on Christianity, including his rejection of traditional Christian doctrines, his advocacy for LGBTQ rights, and his support for interfaith dialogue.

Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts.

Spong died on September 12, 2021, at his home in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 90.

Spong was the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark from 1979 to 2000.

He was known as a leader of the church's liberal wing.

Spong was also a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights and was the first American bishop to ordain an openly gay man, Robert Williams, in 1989.

In response to the Williams ordination, Spong was censured by the church's House of Bishops in 1990.

Later the church followed his lead; an Episcopal court ruled that homosexuality was not counter to its principles in 1996, and the church recognized same-sex marriages in 2015.

Spong held visiting positions and gave lectures at major American theological institutions, most prominently at Harvard Divinity School.

In 1999, he was awarded the Humanist of the Year award by the American Humanist Association.

Spong's views on the Bible, God, and Jesus Christ challenged traditional Christian beliefs.

Spong stated that he was a Christian because he believed that Jesus Christ fully expressed the presence of a God of compassion and selfless love and that this is the meaning of the early Christian proclamation, "Jesus is Lord."

Elaborating on this last idea, he affirmed that Jesus was adopted by God as his son, and he says that this would be the way God was fully incarnated in Jesus Christ.

He rejects the historical truth claims of some Christian doctrines, such as the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

He retired in 2000.

As a retired bishop, he was a member of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops.

Spong described his own life as a journey from the literalism and conservative theology of his childhood to an expansive view of Christianity.

In 2000, Spong was a critic of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church's declaration Dominus Iesus, because it reaffirmed the Catholic doctrine that the Roman Catholic Church is the one true Church and that Jesus Christ is the one and only savior for humanity.

Spong was a strong proponent of the church reflecting the changes in society at large.

Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.

His views on the future of Christianity were "that we have to start where we are. As I look at the history of religion, I observe that new religious insights always and only emerge from the old traditions as they begin to die. It is not by pitching the old insights out but by journeying deeply through them into new visions that we are able to change religion's direction. The creeds were 3rd- and 4th-century love songs that people composed to sing to their understanding of God. We do not have to literalize their words to perceive their meaning or their intention to join in the singing of their creedal song. I think religion in general and Christianity in particular must always be evolving. Forcing the evolution is the dialog between yesterday's words and today's knowledge. The sin of Christianity is that any of us ever claimed that we had somehow captured eternal truth in the forms we had created."

Spong debated Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig on the resurrection of Jesus on March 20, 2005.

Spong was a strong advocate for the inclusion of women in the church.

In a 2013 interview, Spong credited the Anglican bishop John Robinson as his mentor in this journey and said reading Robinson's writings in the 1960s led to a friendship and mentoring relationship with him over many years.

A recipient of many awards, Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts (including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Dateline, 60 Minutes, and Larry King Live).

Spong received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Virginia Theological Seminary and Saint Paul's College, Virginia, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Muhlenberg College.