Francis Lickfield Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
Francis William Lickfield
Honorific Suffix:S.T.D., D.D.
Elected:May 1958
Term:1958–1973
Retired:-->
Predecessor:William Leopold Essex
Successor:Donald J. Parsons
Ordination:December 1933
Ordained By:Francis M. Taitt
Consecration:September 20, 1958
Consecrated By:Frank Burrill
Birth Date:9 February 1908
Parents:Francis William Lickfield & Mary Agnes Desmond
Spouse:Josephine Mondello
Children:2

Francis William Lickfield (February 9, 1908 – December 14, 1998) was the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy.

Early life and education

Lickfield was born on February 9, 1908, in Philadelphia, to Francis William Lickfield and Mary Agnes Desmond. He studied at Temple University and then at the Philadelphia Divinity School in New York, from where he earned a Bachelor of Theology in 1933. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from the Philadelphia Divinity School in 1959 and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from Nashotah House in 1959.[1]

Ordained ministry

Lickfield was ordained deacon in June 1933 and priest in December 1933,by Bishop Francis M. Taitt of Pennsylvania.[2] He married Josephine Mondello on March 7, 1934, and together had two children. Between 1933 and 1934, he served as a missionary and chaplain of the House of Refuge in New York City. In 1934, he became vicar of St John's Church in Westfield, Pennsylvania, St Andrew's Church in Tioga, Pennsylvania and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Knoxville, Pennsylvania. In 1936, he became a member of the diocesan department for Christian Education, while in 1938 he became a priest of the Bush Brotherhood. Between 1936 and 1943, he also served as rector of St Paul's Church in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Between 1943 and 1945, he returned to New York to serve as assistant priest at the Chapel of the Intercession. In 1945 he became rector of St Matthias' Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin, while in 1948 he moved to Chicago to become rector of the Church of the Redeemer, a post he held till 1948.[3]

Bishop

In May 1958, Lickfield was elected Bishop of Quincy during a diocesan convention. He was consecrated on September 20, 1958, in St John's Cathedral, Quincy, Illinois.[4] In 1965, he objected to Bishop Pike's initiative to have women deacons distribute Communion.[5] He retired on June 30, 1973.[6]

Notes and References

  1. 1967. LICKFIELD, Francis William . Who's Who in the Midwest. 10. 584.
  2. 1953. LICKFIELD, Francis William, Jr. . Stowe's Clerical Directory of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 218.
  3. 18 May 1958. Episcopate . The Living Church. 136. 7.
  4. 5 October 1958. New Bishop for Quincy . The Living Church. 137. 16.
  5. Web site: TIME . 1965-04-30 . Episcopalians: Communion from a Woman . 2024-06-16 . TIME . en.
  6. https://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/the_living_church/TLCarticle.pl?volume=216&issue=6&article_id=9 "Bishop Lickfield Dies, Was Diocesan in Quincy 1958-73"