James Malone Coleman


James Malone Coleman was second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee.

Early Life and Education

Coleman was born on August 26, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Frederick L. Coleman Sr. and Doris Cloar Jacobs. He was educated at the Christian Brothers High School and graduated in 1947. He then served in the United States Army before he continued his studies at the University of Tennessee, from where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science in 1953. He also graduated with a Master of Divinity from the University of the South in 1956. He received a Certificate in Pastoral Care from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in 1974, and a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Theology from Wake Forest University in 1975.

Ordained Ministry

Coleman was ordained deacon on July 3, 1956, by Bishop Theodore N. Barth of Tennessee, in St Mary's Cathedral, Memphis, Tennessee. He then served as deacon at St Mary's Cathedral, until he was ordained priest on May 6, 1957 by Bishop John Vander Horst, Suffragan of Tennessee. Between 1957 and 1960, he served as priest-in-charge of the Church of Our Saviour in Gallatin, Tennessee and the Church of the Epiphany in Lebanon, Tennessee. In 1960 he became chaplain to Episcopal students at the Georgia Tech and Agnes Scott College. he remained there till 1962, when he accepted the post of rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Knoxville, Tennessee, and rector of St John's Church in Johnson City, Tennessee. In 1972 he became rector of Christ Church in Martinsville, Virginia, and in 1975 transferred to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to serve as rector of St James' Church. Between 1989 and 1993, Coleman served as rector of St John's Church in Memphis Tennessee.

Bishop

Coleman was elected to be the Coadjutor Bishop of West Tennessee on June 19, 1993 on the eleventh ballot, during a special diocesan convention. He was consecrated on November 13, 1993 by Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He was installed as the second bishop of the diocese on October 20, 1994 in St Mary's Cathedral. As bishop, Coleman worked to foster reconciliation and growth in the diocese. He was also responsible for reinstating college chaplaincies in the diocese, and founded a training centre for the Catechises of the Good Shepherd, an interdenominational Montessori-based Christian education program at St. Mary’s Cathedral. He retired in June 2001.
In 2005, Coleman returned to Baton Rouge and St James' Church, where he served as Bishop-in-Residence until his death in 2020.