William Evan Sanders


William Evan Sanders was eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee from 1977 to 1985, and first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee from 1985 to 1992. He was consecrated on April 4, 1962.

Early life and education

Sanders was born on December 25, 1919 in Natchez, Mississippi, the son of Walter Richard Sanders and Agnes Mortimer Jones. His brother was B. Sidney Sanders, Bishop of East Carolina. He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee and was educated at the Nashville High School. He studied at Vanderbilt University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1942. He then studied for a Bachelor of Divinity at from where he graduated in 1945. He also earned a Master of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary. He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the University of the South in 1959.

Ordained Ministry

Sanders was ordained deacon in February 1945 and priest on June 11, 1946, on both occasions by Bishop James M. Maxon of Tennessee, in the
Church of the Advent, Nashville, Tennessee. Initially, he served as deacon at St Paul's Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and later as assistant priest at the Cathedral of St Mary in Memphis, Tennessee. On December 23, 1946, he was appointed acting Dean of the Cathedral of St Mary, and a year later, was confirmed as Dean of the cathedral, a post he retained till 1962.

Bishop

On April 4, 1962, Sanders was consecrated Coadjutor Bishop of Tennessee, in St Mary's Cathedral, Memphis, by Presiding Bishop Arthur C. Lichtenberger. He succeeded as diocesan bishop in 1977 and remained bishop there till 1985, when the Diocese of Tennessee was divided in three dioceses. He choose to become bishop of the East Tennessee, and became its bishop on January 1, 1985. He retired on January 1, 1992.