At 59, Grafton was consecrated as second Bishop of Fond du Lac on April 25, 1889, with the Bishops of Milwaukee, Chicago, Minnesota, Indiana and Springfield assisting ”” and marking out geographically the general boundaries of what was subsequently known as the “Biretta Belt.” As diocesan bishop for nearly a quarter of a century, Grafton encouraged and led a campaign of substantial church-building and clergy-recruitment that still shows its mark on the ecclesiastical map of northeastern Wisconsin. His private wealth funded various initiatives, including the founding of a Benedictine monastery, architectural work in parish churches and at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Fond du Lac, and charitable activities throughout the diocese. While diocesan bishop, Grafton served as superior general of the American branch of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament from 1890 to 1912.
In 1900, Grafton’s actions caused a furor in parts of the Episcopal Church when he invited a number of non-Anglican bishops to participate in the consecration of Reginald Heber Weller as coadjutor Bishop of Fond du Lac. The bishop’s friendships with Russian Orthodox and Polish National Catholic clergy led to their accepting his invitation, but declining to participate in the actual consecration of Grafton’s own eventual successor. A photograph of the assembled clergy after the service circulated widely and earned it the disparaging title of “the Fond du Lac Circus,” still remembered as a watershed event in American Anglo-Catholic history. Although the presence (and even participation) of vested non-Episcopal clergy at ordinations is commonplace today, Grafton was decades ahead of his time in encouraging mutual recognition of the unity of the Church through its sacramental life.
Grafton’s physical strength declined in the later years of his episcopate, and he delegated some duties in his large diocese to his coadjutor. But he was well enough to travel to Russia in 1903, where he renewed and formed friendships with many Orthodox bishops and theologians. At his death on Aug. 30, 1912, Grafton was at 82 the oldest serving bishop of the Episcopal Church (though not the most senior in years of consecration).
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Richard Mammana–Charles Chapman Grafton, Second Bishop of Fond du Lac
At 59, Grafton was consecrated as second Bishop of Fond du Lac on April 25, 1889, with the Bishops of Milwaukee, Chicago, Minnesota, Indiana and Springfield assisting ”” and marking out geographically the general boundaries of what was subsequently known as the “Biretta Belt.” As diocesan bishop for nearly a quarter of a century, Grafton encouraged and led a campaign of substantial church-building and clergy-recruitment that still shows its mark on the ecclesiastical map of northeastern Wisconsin. His private wealth funded various initiatives, including the founding of a Benedictine monastery, architectural work in parish churches and at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Fond du Lac, and charitable activities throughout the diocese. While diocesan bishop, Grafton served as superior general of the American branch of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament from 1890 to 1912.
In 1900, Grafton’s actions caused a furor in parts of the Episcopal Church when he invited a number of non-Anglican bishops to participate in the consecration of Reginald Heber Weller as coadjutor Bishop of Fond du Lac. The bishop’s friendships with Russian Orthodox and Polish National Catholic clergy led to their accepting his invitation, but declining to participate in the actual consecration of Grafton’s own eventual successor. A photograph of the assembled clergy after the service circulated widely and earned it the disparaging title of “the Fond du Lac Circus,” still remembered as a watershed event in American Anglo-Catholic history. Although the presence (and even participation) of vested non-Episcopal clergy at ordinations is commonplace today, Grafton was decades ahead of his time in encouraging mutual recognition of the unity of the Church through its sacramental life.
Grafton’s physical strength declined in the later years of his episcopate, and he delegated some duties in his large diocese to his coadjutor. But he was well enough to travel to Russia in 1903, where he renewed and formed friendships with many Orthodox bishops and theologians. At his death on Aug. 30, 1912, Grafton was at 82 the oldest serving bishop of the Episcopal Church (though not the most senior in years of consecration).
Read it all.