The Rt. Rev. Jeffery Rowthorn, a liturgical scholar and prolific hymnwriter who served as Bishop Suffragan of Connecticut and Bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, died July 23 at 91. He is probably best known for his hymn “Lord, You Give the Great Commission,” but also wrote about ecological spirituality and published several volumes of liturgical texts for pastoral ministry.
A native of Wales, Rowthorn studied modern languages at Christ College, Cambridge, and first came to the U.S. on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to study theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was ordained in the Church of England’s Diocese of Southwark and served a parish in Woolwich before working as a lecturer in liturgics at Cuddesdon Theological College, near Oxford.
In 1968, Rowthorn returned to Union as seminary chaplain. Five years later, he moved to Yale, where he was one of the founders of its renowned Institute of Sacred Music, which replaced a similar school for church musicians at Union, which had been shuttered by budget cuts. He held the Bishop Goddard Chair in Pastoral Theology at Yale and Berkeley Divinity School, and taught liturgics and pastoral ministry courses for 14 years.
He was elected Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut in 1987, and had special responsibility for congregations in the eastern half of the state. In 1994, the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops elected him as Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, where he served until his retirement in 2001. He also served as an assisting bishop in the Church of England’s Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe.
He was the last bishop to be appointed by the House of Bishops to lead the Episcopal Church’s congregations in Europe, and current bishop Mark Edington noted that he helped lay the groundwork for its self-determination. “During his seven years as our bishop, Jeffery gave us much of the structure that has guided the emergence and maturation of the Convocation as an authentic expression of the Episcopal Church in the context and cultures of Europe,” Edington wrote.
Rowthorn continued to write in retirement, publishing the hymn collection Singing Songs of Expectation and a collection of liturgical texts, The Wideness of God’s Mercy, in 2007. His two final works, God’s Good Earth: Praise and Prayer for Creation and God’s Good Earth in Crisis: Liturgies of Lament, were collaborative projects with his late wife, Anne, who wrote several books about ecological spirituality. Two of his hymns, “Lord, You Give the Great Commission,” and “Creating God, Your Fingers Trace,” are included the Hymnal 1982 and many other contemporary Protestant hymnals.
“Bishop Rowthorn is remembered by many in Connecticut for his wisdom, humor, kindness, and grace,” the Episcopal Church in Connecticut’s bishops wrote. “We are comforted in this time by the words of Bishop Rowthorn: ‘Lord, you bless with words assuring: ‘I am with you to the end.’ Faith and hope and love restoring, may we serve as you intend, and, amid the cares that claim us, hold in mind eternity.’”
Rowthorn is survived by three children and seven grandchildren. Burial services will be held at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, at 11 a.m. August 9.
The Rev. Mark Michael is editor-in-chief of The Living Church. An Episcopal priest, he has reported widely on global Anglicanism, and also writes about church history, liturgy, and pastoral ministry.
