The Rt. Rev. Anthony (Tony) Clavier, who served as primus of the American Episcopal Church and as a bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church before being received into the Episcopal Church, died August 13 at 85. Clavier had returned to the United Kingdom to live near one of his sons, Mark, who serves as a priest in Brecon, Wales.
He was a graduate of Geneva Theological Seminary, both in bachelor’s and graduate studies.
After his reception into the Episcopal Church, Clavier mostly tended to parish ministry, though he also strived to be a bridge-builder between conservatives and progressives. Clavier was among the original contributors to Covenant, TLC’s online journal, and served as editor of The Anglican Digest for a time.
Clavier was born in Worsbrough Dale, South Yorkshire, to a divorced mother who was a district nurse and midwife. “Their relationship was affectionate but often fraught—two strong wills locked in close quarters, trying to make a life together in mid-century England. She was fiercely proud, sharp-tongued, and determined. He was clever and charismatic, with a mind very much his own,” Mark Clavier wrote in a tribute (tinyurl.com/tclavier) on his Substack, Well-Tempered.
“The church became his sanctuary from an early age. It gave him a structure, an anchor, and a refuge. At four, he asked his mother to dress his teddy bear (which we still have) as a bishop,” Mark Clavier wrote. “He learned the organ, read the Book of Common Prayer alongside adventure novels, and developed an unshakable sense that God had placed something in him that must be lived out.”
He was received into the Episcopal Church in 1999 by Bishop Larry Maze of Arkansas and served in Pine Bluff in that state. He also served in West Virginia, Europe, and South Dakota. In the Diocese of Springfield he looked after two small parishes, staying with them for the longest cure of his vocation.
“In 2016, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry gave him the honorary title of ‘ecumenical bishop,’ allowing him to robe and style himself as a bishop without exercising episcopal ministry,” Mark Clavier wrote. “It was an unnecessary but generous act of grace, and it moved my father deeply.”
He added: “When I picture him now, I see him preaching in his prime, that familiar twinkle in his eye when he was in full flow. I see him in his armchair, surrounded by tottering piles of books, a dog at his side. I see him walking with his pronounced waddle, a tweed hat on his head and a walking stick in hand, entertaining his companions with stories. I see him delighting in reading The Wind in the Willows to a classroom of enthralled children.”
The Rev. Elizabeth (Beth) Phillips, who practiced law with her mother and in Colorado for many years before pursuing ordination, died in an automobile accident on August 8 at 58.
She was a graduate of the University of Missouri and of its law school. She attended divinity school at Yale University, with a semester abroad at Cambridge University and an internship in New York at Trinity Church, Wall Street. She was ordained deacon and priest in 2013.
She served as assistant priest at Christ Church Warwick in the Hudson River Valley before she became rector at Christ Church Portola Valley in Woodside, California, a position she held for eight years.
In California she met and married Charlie Mabie, a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay area. Her final and most personal calling led her to hospital chaplaincy and hospice service. “Mother Beth,” as she had become known, began serving as a priest and chaplain in the Episcopal Diocese of California in 2023. Her work expanded to include roles as Priest and Chaplain Resident at Stanford University Health Care and Chaplain at nearby Pathways Home Health and Hospice. She and her husband served as foster parents to a 12-year-old boy and later helped an unaccompanied minor refugee boy from Guinea, West Africa.
In addition to her husband, her survivors include her parents, a brother, and his family.
The Rev. Canon George Frederick Woodward III, rector since 2018 of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, died in an automobile accident at 70.
He was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Ohio. He was a graduate of Ohio University, Ashland Theological Seminary, and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. He was ordained a deacon in 1983 and a priest in 1984, and served as associate rector of All Saints-by-the-Sea, Santa Barbara, for five years. He then served two years in the Republic of Turkey as a civilian chaplain at Incirlik Air Force Base and at the British Embassy Chapel of St. Nicholas in Ankara.
“Canon Woodward is a legend in our diocese for loving his people so well, for serving the church of Jesus Christ so faithfully, and for standing up for those most at risk, especially victims of injustice in Central America,” wrote Bishop John Harvey Taylor of Los Angeles. Before moving to Mexico, Woodward served for 23 years at St. Edmund’s Church in San Marino, California.
Survivors include his sister, Stacy Woodward.
Other Deaths
Douglas LeBlanc is an Associate Editor and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
