06/09/2026
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Today, we remember Bishop William Alexander Guerry, the 8th Bishop of our diocese, who died on this day in 1928, five days after being shot in his office in Charleston by a priest who had attacked the bishop’s position on advancing racial equality in South Carolina, and especially his proposal to install a black suffragan bishop in the diocese. The priest who shot the him believed Bishop Guerry would bring an end to white supremacy in the south. So, overtaken by hatred, and perhaps other mental issues, he fired the shot that killed the bishop and then turned the gun on himself, taking his own life.
Before Bishop Guerry died, he said of his assailant, “Forgive him, Father, he knew not what he did.” We remember him today as a bishop, reformer, and martyr. This year, we will celebrate Bishop Guerry Day in our diocese on June 21. For more information on this remarkable bishop, visit our website at this link: episcopalchurchsc.org/bishop-guerry/
COLLECT FOR THE FEAST OF BISHOP GUERRY: God of truth and sacrifice, we give thanks for your servant William Alexander Guerry, who, like the church’s first martyr, gave witness to your liberating gospel and echoed Christ’s healing words of forgiveness. May we also seek your truth as we offer ourselves in obedience to the same. All this we pray through him who is forever the bishop and reformer of our souls, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
