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Matthew Walker Clair, Jr. (1890-1968) was a Methodist Church bishop. He received his B.A. from Howard University in 1915, a bachelor of sacred theology from Boston University in 1918, and a doctor of divinity from Gammon Seminary in 1936.

Clair's first appointment was to Bedford, Virginia in 1918, and this was followed by appointments in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1919; Roanoke, Virginia, in 1920; Daytona Beach, Florida (1924-1925); and Denver, Colorado (1925-1928). In 1929 he was appointed to the Board of Home Missions. Clair was professor of Practical Theology at Gammon Theological Seminary from 1936 until 1940, when he became pastor at St. Mark Church in Chicago.

During World War I Clair served as a United States Army chaplain. Elected to the episcopacy by the Central Jurisdictional Conference in 1952, he was sent by the Council of Bishops to review and appraise Methodist work in several parts of the world. He visited Africa in 1954, Singapore in 1956, Central and South America in 1958, and Europe in 1961

Clair was a member of several church wide organizations. He also served as president of the Board of Trustees of Philander Smith College. In 1964, after eight years as the bishop in charge of the work of the Central Jurisdiction, Clair retired.

George Edward Epp (1885-1970) was an Evangelical United Brethren bishop and administrator. He was recommended to the ministry by the congregation in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Epp received his theological education at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Naperville, Illinois. Following graduation, he was ordained and received into membership in the Wisconsin Conference of the Evangelical Association.

In 1921, he became executive secretary of the Missionary Society of the Evangelical Association. He was reelected to that office in 1922, following the merger of the United Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Association. He remained executive secretary of the Missionary Society until 1930, when he was elected bishop, a position he held for twenty-eight years. Epp retired in 1958.

John Balmer Showers (1879-1962) was an Evangelical United Brethren Church bishop and church leader. He was born near Paris, Ontario, Canada, son of the Reverend Joseph and Margaret Showers. His childhood was spent in the small towns and open country of Onotario Province where his father served as pastor of United Brethren churches. John Showers was educated in Canada at an early age. He obtained a license to preach in United Brethren church at eighteen. Showers graduated from Lebanon Valley College (B.A., 1907) and Bronebrake (now United) Theological Seminary (B.D., 1910). He did graduate study at Chicago University (1910-1911) and Berlin University (1911-1912). A research trip was taken to the Far East in 1922. Showers married Justina Lorenz in April 1911.

He was licensed to preach by a local church in 1898 and by the Ontario Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in 1899. In 1902 he was ordained by the Erie Conference. Showers served several pastorates including Dechard circuit (1900-1903) and Bradford Station (1903-1904) in Pennsylvania. He was at Westfield College (1906-1907) in Illinois and Belmont Mission in Ohio (1908-1910). From 1910 to 1926 Showers was professor of New Testament Literature and Interpretation at Bonebrake Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. In 1926, Showers became the associate editor of the "Religious Telescope." He remained in that position until 1933. From 1931-1933 he was an associate publishing agent for the denomination. In 1933, he became publisher of "The Otterbein Press," a position he held until 1945. The General Conference of 1945 elected John Showers to the episcopacy and he was assigned to be bishop in the Eastern Area. He was later assigned to supervise the North Central Area. In 1954, Showers retired as emeritus bishop. From 1954 to 1962, he lived in Dayton, Ohio. He died on September 25, 1962 and was buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Dayton Ohio.

In 1933, he became publisher of "The Otterbein Press," a position he held until 1945.

Edwin Ronald Garrison (1897-1995), an American bishop, was born to R. Eliot and Susie Enright Garriosn in Frankford, Indiana, on December 26, 1897. Garrison married Edith Heritage on January 20, 1922. They had two daughters, Helen Carolyn (Mrs. Lewis Kauffmann) and Marion Ann (Mrs. J. H. LoPrete). Edith Garrison died July 14, 1971. Edwin married Marion Thompson in 1973. Edwin died on January 3, 1995.

Garrison attended Depauw University (B.A. 1921) and Drew Theological Seminary (B.D. 1925) as well as receiveing other honorary degrees. He was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1927. Between 1928 and 1942 he served churches in Sheridan, Elkhart (St. Paul's), and Bluffton, Indiana. He was District Superintendent of the Wabash District for five years. Between 1950 and 1960 Garrison served as the administrative assistant to Bishop Richard C. Raines. In 1960, he was elected to the episcopacy by the North Central Jurisdiction and assigned to the Dakotas Area. He retired at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in 1968. In 1992, Garrison received the Drew University School Distinguished Service Award.

Robert Richford Roberts (1778-1843) was born in Frederick County, Maryland on August 2, 1778. He migrated to Mercer County, Pennsylvania where he lived as a frontiersperson with his wife Elizabeth Oldham of York County, Pennsylvania. Roberts was admitted on trial in the Baltimore Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and ordained by Bishops Asbury and Coke in 1804 and 1806. After several appointments in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, he was elected a bishop in 1816. In 1819 Roberts moved to Indiana where he became known as "the log cabin" bishop. His episcopal journeys took him from Maine to Mississippi and to the Indian missions west of Arkansas. Roberts died in Indiana on March 26, 1843.

William Angie Smith (1894-1974), American Methodist bishop, was born December 21, 1894 in Elgin, Texas. He graduated from Southwestern University in 1917 and was ordained elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1924. Smith served charges in several places, including El Paso, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, DC; Birmingham, Alabama, and Dallas, Texas. In 1944, he was elected bishop by the South Central Jurisdictional Conference and assigned to the Oklahoma-New Mexico Area, which comprised of the Oklahoma, Oklahoma Indian Mission, and New Mexico Annual Conferences. Smith served these conferences for twenty-four years. He also served as president of the Board of Evangelism from 1952 to 1964 and as president of the Council of Bishops in 1957. Smith was also heavily involved with the World Methodist Council and the United States military chaplaincy program. Smith married Bess Owens in 1920 and had 3 sons: William III, Bryant, and Shelby. Mrs. Smith was also very active in the Methodist Church, particularly with the Bishops Wives Association. Bishop William Angie Smith died on March 15, 1974 at the age of 79.

William Burt (1852-1936), an American pastor, missionary, and bishop, was born in Padstow, Cornwall, England, on October 23, 1852. His family immigrated to the United States. Burt graduated from Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1879, and from Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey, in 1881. Eventually, he received honorary doctorates from Grant, Wesleyan, and Syracuse Universities and Dickinson and Allegheny Colleges.

Joining the New York East Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1881, Burt served St. Paul's Church and De Kalb Avenue Church in Brooklyn before being transferred to the Italy Annual Conference in 1886. In 1888 he moved to Florence, establishing a theological school, and became superintendent of the Italy Mission. Coming to Rome in 1890, Burt was instrumental in establishing the Methodist Building, the Boy's College, a Theological School, Publishing House, and Young Ladies College. He also led in building several churches and schools in other parts of Italy.

On May 20, 1904, Burt was elected a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and appointed resident Bishop of Europe. While in charge of the work in Europe, he organized the France Mission Conference, the Austria- Hungary Mission Conference, the Russian Mission Conference, and the Denmark and Finland Annual Conferences. In 1910 he organized all the Methodist work in Europe into the European Central Annual Conference.

On several occasions the Board of Bishops designated Burt to be an Episcopal visitor in other areas of the world. In 1906 he was Fraternal delegate to the British and Irish Wesleyan Conference, and in that same year made the Quadrennial visit to Methodist missions in Africa. In 1917 he visited the Methodist work in the Orient including China, Japan, the Philippines, India, Korea, and the Malay Peninsula. Finally in 1919 Burt was called upon to study post-war conditions in Europe with the purpose of rebuilding Methodist Episcopal churches.

Burt's contributions and honors were many. He wrote ten books and translated the Discipline into Italian. King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy knighted him in 1903. He was received by the kings of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden as well as by the queens of Italy and Bulgaria, the Emperor of Germany and the Shah of Persia.

Bishop Burt returned to the United States in 1912 assuming episcopal leadership of the Buffalo, New York area. He retired in 1924 and died at Clifton Springs, New York on April 9, 1936. He is buried in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Burt married Helen Bartlett Graves (born April 14, 1856) on April 14, 1881. They had five children.

Paul Arthur Washburn (1911-1989) was an American bishop and former Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) minister, and executive secretary of the Commission on Church Union of the EUB Church. He was born in Aurora, Illinois, on March 31, 1911, the son of Eliot Arthur and Lena (Burhnsen) Washburn. He was a graduate of North Central College and of Evangelical Seminary. Ordained by the Illinois Conference of The Evangelical Church, he served as pastor of congregations in Eppards Point Township, Rockford, and Naperville, Illinois. He has served on the following General Boards and Agencies of the former EUB Church: The General Program Council, Council of Administration, Council of Executive Officers, and the Commission on Church Union, of which he was the executive secretary. Bishop Washburn was a delegate to every General Conference of his Church from 1946 to 1962. He was a member of his Church's Commission on Federation and Church Union beginning in 1958, and a representative of the denomination to the Consultation on Church Union. He was a trustee of North Central College and of Evangelical Theological Seminary. He also served as Guest Lecturer in Religion and Pastoral Theology at Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois; North Central College; and Evangelical Theological Seminary. In 1959, and again in 1960, he served as Lecturer in Homiletics at the Rural Leadership School of Michigan State University. He was married to Kathryn Fischer and was the father of two daughters and two sons. At the Uniting Conferenc of the Methodist and EUB Churches held in Dallas, Texas, in 1968, Dr. Washburn was elected a bishop on the first ballot in an election held at the last session of the General Conference of the EUB Church on Monday, April 22, 1968. He was solemnly set apart that same day for the duties of the episcopacy by the bishops of the EUB Church, with Bishop Roy H. Short of the former Methodist Church participating at the invitation of the EUB bishops. Bishop Washburn was assigned to the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and at the Jurisdictional Conference held at Peoria, Illinois, was assigned to the Minneapolis Area.

William Ralph Ward (1908-1988), an American bishop, was born in Boston on October 16, 1908, the son of William Ralph and Janie (Johnston) Ward. He received the A.B. from Baker University and the S.T.B. and S.T.M. degrees from Boston University.

On June 3, 1933, he married Arleen Burdick (1909-2000). They were the parents of three sons.

William Ralph Ward was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1932. His pastorates included Waldoboro, Maine, 1931; Porter Church, East Weymouth, Massachusetts., 1932-1933; Hingham, Massachusetts., 1933-1934; First Church, East Weymouth, 1934-1940; Newport, Rhode Island, 1940-1941; Manchester, Conn., 1941-1948; and Mt. Lebanon Church, Pittsburgh, 1948-1960.

In 1960 he was elected bishop and assigned bishop of the Syracuse Area. In 1972 he was became bishop of the New York Area, which post he held until his retirement in 1980. During his tenure in the New York Area he served as President of the Council of Bishops. After Bishop Ward's retirement he continued to serve in leadership posts, including the Board of Global Ministries and as Bishop in Residence at Drew University.

Ward's activities included the General Board of Christian Social Concerns; vice-president of the General Board of Missions; president, Division of National Missions; honorary life member, Women's Society of Christian Service, president of the Pittsburgh Area Council of Churches, 1957-1958; chairman of the Denominational and Interdenominational Staff Conference, 1964; director of the New York State Council of Churches; a delegate to the Oxford Institute on Methodist Theological Studies, London, 1958; member of the World Methodist Council; member of the Commission on Promotion and Cultivation, and president of the denomination's Program Council, 1968-1972. In 1970 he was also a member of the Quadrennial Emphasis Committee, the Social Principles Study Commission, the Interboard Committee on Town and Country Work, the International Methodist Historical Society, and the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches. He was an Edmund Beebe Fellow at Boston University, a trustee of Hartford Seminary Foundation, 1944-1949; and a trustee of the following: Syracuse University, Bethune-Cookman College, Drew University, Folts Home for the Aged, Methodist Home for Children, Williamsville; Clifton Springs Sanatorium, and Blocher Homes. He was the recipient of the Freedom Foundation award, 1951 and man of the year award, B' nai B'rith, Pittsburgh, 1954. He was a member of the Newcomen Society in North America, Zeta Chi, Theta Chi Beta. He was heavily involved in the 1970's in establishing a TV and Radio Presence for the United Methodist Church. In the late 1970's Ward as bishop of the New York Area was engaged in dealing with the racial conflict that engulfed our nation.

Ward was a prolific writer of articles and sermons. He contributed articles to The Upper Room, Prayers for Today, Christian Advocate, and to numerous other publications. He is the author of Authentic Man Encounters God's World. His latest work was in 1986 entitled, Faith In Action, a history of Methodism in New York State.

Paul Bentley Kern (1882-1953), American bishop, was born on June 16, 1882 in Alexandria, Virginia. He began his college career at Randolph-Macon College, where his father, John A. Kern, was a professor. After one year of study, Kern transferred to Vanderbilt University and received two degrees: B.A. in 1902 and B.D. in 1905. He was then admitted into the Tennessee Annual Conference in 1905 and served two years as an instructor for the Correspondence School for Ministers while teaching at Vanderbilt and simultaneously serving various local churches. He married Lucy Gorhall Campbell of Nashville, Tennessee, on June 11, 1907. They had three children.

When Southern Methodist University was established in 1915, he became the professor of English as well as Bible and homiletics. By 1920, he was dean of the theological department. In 1926, he went back into the pastoral ministry, and was appointed to the Travis Park Church in San Antonio, Texas. Kern was elected to the episcopacy for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1930. Bishop Kern served in the China from 1930 to 1934.

From 1934 to 1938 he was bishop for both the North and South Carolina areas. In 1938, he was appointed to the Nashville Area with Tennessee, Holston, Florida, and Cuban conferences under his supervision. He was active in the unification of the three Methodist bodies which came together in 1939. Kean also helped in the consolidation of the Epworth League and Sunday School Boards into the Board of Education. Other areas of influence include the Youth Caravan Movement, the Crusade for Christ, and higher education in Methodism. He was chairperson of the board of trustees of Scarritt College. He wrote the Episcopal Address for the General Conference of 1952 which was held in San Francisco. Besides being an author and guest lecturer, he was also a member of many boards and agencies of the Methodist Church and a delegate to the World Council of Churches in 1948. He died on December 16, 1953, at Vanderbilt Hospital, and is buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Nashville.