Theodore N. Barth

Barth was born in Mount Savage, Maryland on July 11, 1899, the son of George Godfrey Barth and Mary Elizabeth Markel. [1] He was of German, Swiss and Dutch ancestry. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. degree in 1918 and later from Virginia Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1923. He was awarded as a Doctor of Divinity by Southwestern University in 1943.

He was ordained deacon in December 1921 and to the priesthood in October 1922. Bishop John Gardner Murray of Maryland ordained him in both instances. On June 4, 1923, Bishop John Gardner Murray also performed the marriage ceremony of Barth and Elizabeth Pike Ellicott. He was appointed as rector of Deer Creek Parish in Harford County, Maryland a pot he held till 1924 when he became rector of the parishes of Reisterstown, Maryland and Western Run, Baltimore County. In 1928 he became rector of St Bartholomew's Church in Ten Hills, Baltimore and in 1940 he transferred as rector of Calvary Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Between 1943 and 1946 he also served as deputy of the General Convention from the Diocese of Tennessee.

Barth was elected as Coadjutor Bishop of Tennessee on April 20 1948. His election was reached on the eleventh ballot. He was consecrated in his old parish of Calvary Church on September 21, 1948 by Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill. He succeeded as Bishop of Tennessee on September 21, 1953. He remained bishop until his death on August 22, 1961.[2]

• Theodore N. Barth at Find a Grave