The Rt. Rev. Herbert Alcorn Donovan Jr., the 11th Bishop of Arkansas, who was a utility servant in his retirement years, died November 2 at 94. He was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1957, and was ordained deacon and priest in 1957.
He served as Bishop of Arkansas from 1980 to 1993, when he became vicar of Trinity Church, Wall Street, and Assisting Bishop of New York. He then served in several interim positions: Provisional Bishop of Chicago, Assisting Bishop of New Jersey, Anglican Observer at the United Nations and rector of Trinity Church, Boston.
He joined the U.S. Navy as a chaplain in 1955 and served as a reserve chaplain for 36 years until 1991. As a captain, he commanded a chaplains’ unit that ministered to the U.S. fleet of atomic submarines. He also served on the Pastoral Care Team of the House of Bishops to minister to chaplains serving in the armed forces in Operation Desert Storm.
Donovan’s career spanned a turbulent period as the Episcopal Church dealt with the struggles to admit women and later gay and lesbian candidates to ordination as well as challenges in society. He served on many committees examining and furthering women’s ordination and LGBT rights in the church as well as in society.
Donovan’s impulse was to work through existing political orders to effect change. For example, he joined other religious leaders as plaintiffs in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education (1981), a successful suit that challenged the legislation that required Arkansas public schools to teach creation science.
He attended every General Convention from 1967 until 2012, as a clerical deputy and later as a member of the House of Bishops, which he served as secretary from 1986 to 1998. He was twice elected to the church’s Executive Council in 1979-80 and 1985-91.
He worked with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Council to develop the Anglican-Lutheran agreement to recognize each other’s holy orders in 1998 and was active in planning the first U.S. Episcopal-Lutheran bishops meeting.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, professor Mary Sudman, two daughters, and a son.
