“H” is for Hines, John Elbridge (1910-1997

“H” is for Hines, John Elbridge (1910-1997). Clergyman, civil rights activist. A native of Seneca, Hines is the only South Carolinian to serve as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the denomination’s top leadership position. He graduated from the University of the South and Virginia Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1933, Hines served churches in Missouri, Georgia, and Texas before being consecrated bishop coadjutor of Texas in 1945. He became the fourth bishop of Texas in 1955. In 1964 he was elected the twenty-second presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Hines was committed to racial and social justice and led the Episcopal Church in an era of social activism in the 1960s. John Elbridge Hines was also a leader in the ecumenical movement and supported the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States.