E. Otis Charles

Edgar Otis Charles ( born April 24, 1926 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, † December 26, 2013 in San Francisco, California ) was until his retirement Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.

He spent his childhood in New Jersey; his first job as a priest he had in Connecticut. Between 1968 and 1982 he was a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission, which was responsible for the development of the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1971 he was elected as Bishop of Utah and consecrated by John Elbridge Hines and Richard S. Watson and Joseph Warren Hutchens. He was active in the peace movement and opposed it, that Nevada and Utah would be selected as a launching sites of the LGM -118 Peacekeeper. In the House of Bishops Charles the Prayer Book Committee sat in front and was a member of the Bishops ' Committee on Racism. In 1985, Charles Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School. Charles showed significant academic achievements, with two doctorates ( Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Sacred Theology ).

After his retirement in 1993 Charles had his coming-out and publicly stated that he was gay. He was the first Christian bishop, who ever did this step. He lived there until his death in July 2013 together with his partner in San Francisco, where he was co-founder of Oasis Commission.