About us - Office of the Bishop

The Rt. Rev. William D. Persell
11th Bishop of Chicago
Contact: Episcopal Church Center 65 E. Huron St. Chicago, IL 60611 312-751-4200 fax 312-787-5872

William D. Persell, former dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, was elected the 11th bishop of Chicago on Nov. 14, 1998, and ordained and consecrated bishop on March 13, 1999. He succeeded Bishop Frank Griswold who took office as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church Jan. 1, 1998. In March 2006 Bishop Persell announced his plans to resign office and retire on the consecration of the 12th Bishop of Chicago. On Novermber 10, 2007 the 170th Annual Convention elected the Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee 12th Bishop of Chicago. Bishop Lee was ordained and consecrated Bishop of Chicago on February 2, 2008. Bishop Persell resigned office effective on Bishop Lee's consecration. Bishop Persell and his wife Nancy now reside in Cleveland, Ohio.

The son of retired bishop suffragan of Albany, Charles B. Persell, Jr., Bishop Persell was born in Rochester, New York and grew up in Massena, a small town in northern New York on the St. Lawrence Seaway. As an undergraduate at Hobart College in Geneva, New York in the early 1960s, he laid the foundations for his long commitment to multicultural relations when he joined a fraternity of mainly Jewish and African American members. At Hobart he also honed his skills in la crosse, a sport he continued with as a priest in Los Angeles.

His commitment to interfaith relations and civil rights continued during his seminary years at The Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For his parish field education he chose an African American parish in Boston's Roxbury section. Working with young men from nearby public housing projects, he gained an understanding of the plight of poor and marginalized people, and a passionate commitment to the church's urban ministry.

Following his ordination to priesthood in 1969, Bishop Persell served as assistant and then associate at St. Paul's Church in Tustin, Calif. In 1972 he was called as associate to St. John's in Los Angeles, and a year later became rector of this multi-ethnic parish. During his ten years at St. John's he was an advocate for Asian and Hispanic ministries, and served as vice president of the black clergy association of Los Angeles. He also chaired the diocese's social relations committee and its urban and special ministries program group.

In 1973 he married Nancy Pollard, a fourth generation Californian, born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Francisco area. They have six grown children and five grand children.

The Persells moved to New York City in 1982 where the bishop served as rector of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn Heights. His nine years as rector were marked by a growth in members, an expansion of the Sunday School, and the founding of the St. Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts.

In 1991 Bishop Persell was called as dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland. His interest in interfaith and multicultural relations made the cathedral a vital part of the community and diocesan life. Attendance and ministries more than doubled, giving increased by 80 percent, and the cathedral became a leading voice on community issues, and ecumenical cooperation.

During his episcopacy in Chicago, Bishop Persell served as president of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, as a member of the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, on the board of trustees of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and Rush University Medical Center, on the editorial board of The Christian Century, and on the board of Episcopal Relief and Development.