Episcopal Press and News
Suffragan Bishop Elected in Chicago
Diocesan Press Service. May 31, 1972 [72063]
Rev. Erwin M. Soukup, Editor, Advance Diocese of Chicago
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The first black priest to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, the Very Rev. Quintin E. Primo, Jr., of Detroit, Michigan, was chosen at the special convention held in the Cathedral Church of St. James, Chicago, on May 20. Father Primo is rector of St. Matthew's and St. Joseph's Parish in Detroit and is the dean of the Woodward Convocation, and will be suffragan bishop of the Diocese.
The bishop-elect was given a majority of votes in both the lay and clerical orders on the third ballot, receiving 113 clergy votes out of a possible 194 and 208 lay votes out of a possible 360. The initial major contenders were the Ven. J. Ralph Deppen, archdeacon of the Diocese, the Very Rev. James A. Edden, rector of St. Thomas' Church, Chicago, and the Rev. Sheldon B. Foote, Jr., rector of St. Philip's Church, Palatine. Archdeacon Deppen remained the only other serious candidate with 60 clerical votes and 129 lay votes on the final ballot.
Father Primo was born in Liberty County, Georgia, in 1913, and he was educated at Fort Valley Normal and Industrial Institute, Albany, Georgia, and received his B. A. from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He received his Master of Divinity Degree from Bishop Payne Divinity School which is now the Virginia Theological Seminary.
The bishop-elect has served parishes in Florida, North Carolina, New York, and Delaware prior to his cure of the Detroit parish. While in Rochester, N.Y. he led a 35-year mission to parochial status while it built and paid for a new parish house and rectory. In Wilmington, Delaware, he led a 122-year mission to parochial status in three years. The day school of the parish built a $400, 000 modern facility to care for 150 infant and pre-school children under his guidance. He was the first national president of the Union of Black Episcopalians, and in Detroit he assisted the merger of two struggling parishes into the successful combined parish of which he is presently rector.
Father Primo has been a deputy to General Convention, a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Michigan, chairman of the College Work Advisory Commission of the Diocese of Michigan, chairman of the Christian Social Relations Committee of the Diocese of Rochester, and a member of the Diocesan Committee of Response in Michigan.
He has also been a board member of the United Negro College Fund, the Planned Parenthood Association of Wilmington, and of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Father Primo has a wife, Winifred, and three grown children. It is expected that his consecration to the episcopate will take place some time in the early fall.
When notified of his election, Father Primo declared it to be a great honor and that he hoped that he would be able to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the support of the parishioners of the Diocese of Chicago.
His acceptance of the election is subject to the required canonical consent of the Bishops and Standing Committees.
The May 20 election was made necessary when a similar convention a year ago deadlocked in electing a bishop suffragan. For this year's convention, a Screening Committee was created which received and evaluated some forty names of priests. Four, those listed earlier with Father Primo as serious contenders in the election, were presented to the Diocese as candidates for the office. Under the canons of the Diocese, a nominating ballot is cast, and then those named in the nominating ballot are considered candidates for the election. Thirty-one names were listed on the first ballot cast in the May 20 Convention, but the list was reduced sharply on the second ballot when most of the " favorite son " candidates withdrew their names.
Father Primo led from the very first ballot, and he picked up support on each subsequent talley. The Rev. Drury H. Green chairman of the Committee of Tellers, announced the final vote at 3:15 p.m., and Bishop Montgomery, who presided, declared the fact of election. A committee, composed of losing candidates Archdeacon Deppen, Dean Edden, Mr. Ernest N. Robinson, chairman of the Screening Committee, and Mr. Rubyan English, notified the bishop suffragan-elect by phone immediately after the close of the Convention.
Naming it the " singingest convention" since each announcement of the results of balloting was followed by a hymn, Bishop Montgomery pronounced his blessing and the delegates signed the testimonial of election.
A bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Church is an assistant bishop who does not automatically succeed to the office of chief pastor, or diocesan bishop, unless subsequently elected to that position.