The Diocesan Dialogue
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April 2008

A familiar face was the first presiding bishop to visit Utah

This spring's visit by the Presiding Bishop comes 104 years after what we conclude was the earliest Utah visit by a Presiding Bishop. That Presiding Bishop was the man who had served as Utah's first Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Daniel S. Tuttle. He had left Utah in 1886 to become the Bishop of Missouri and assumed the Presiding Bishop title in 1903.

His September 1904 return to Utah as Presiding Bishop was by most accounts rather low keyed. The Ogden Standard merely listed the visit as the seventh item under "Church Notes." In the one paragraph mention, the paper announced he would preach in the Church of the Good Shepherd and would be "pleased to meet his old friends whom he has always in happy remembrance" The paper said he would be staying at the house of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Lewis.

In those days, Presiding Bishop duties were given to the person with the most seniority from the time of consecration. Bishop Tuttle was consecrated in 1866 and arrived in Utah as a new bishop in 1867. Therefore, by 1903, he had 37 years of seniority. He would serve as PB until his death in 1923.

The Salt Lake Herald newspaper proclaims Presiding Bishop Tuttle's sermon as "impressive" during an early visit to his old home of Utah. June 14, 1909

He would visit the Utah Missionary District a number of times during his tenure as Presiding Bishop. One of those early visits was to take part in the consecration of the missionary bishop of Western Colorado at St. Mark's Cathedral. Dean Benjamin Brewster, of St. Mark's, was selected to move to Colorado and assume the Bishop's chair. He was the first Utah clergy member called to the office of bishop. The old Salt Lake Herald reported Bishop Tuttle first preached two services at the Cathedral and addressed the Girls' Friendly Society.

The paper headlined an article during his visit BISHOP TUTTLE DELIVERS IMPRESSIVE SERMON IN ST. MARK'S CATHEDRAL. The Rt. Rev. Tuttle spoke to the "social disturbances of the day". The Herald reported he said that "crookednesses and wrongs come from human sin." The paper went on to say the Bishop said "Christians cheerfully and vigorously standing for the just and the fair, must not be discouraged if in spite of all their efforts, wrongs go on."

The clergy of the Missionary District of Utah pose with Presiding Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle on the steps of St. Mark's Cathedral. The 1917 event marked the 50th anniversary of the Episcopal Church in Utah.
Utah State Historical Society photo.

A memorable trip to Utah occurred in 1917. An aged Bishop Tuttle returned for the 50th anniversary of the Episcopal Church in Utah. The convention recognizing the event must have had a few strained emotions. A few months later, Bishop Tuttle would facilitate the removal of Utah Bishop Paul Jones over his opposition to the impending World War. That antiwar stance also pitted the vestries of St. Mark's and Salt Lake City's St. Paul's against Bishop Jones during the time all were posing for a group picture (see above).

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