Bishop Townsend Appointed Priest-in-Charge at Emmanuel Church

Emmanuel Episcopal Church of Keyser, West Virginia, is pleased to announce that the Right Reverend Martin G. Townsend, D.D., has accepted the call to become the new Priest-in-Charge of the parish. His first Sunday Holy Eucharist will be celebrated on May 11, 2008, at 8:00 and 10:00 in the morning.


Bishop Townsend, the retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton, Maryland, was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1957. He was graduated from Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York, and received his bachelor’s degree from Hobart College in 1965. In 1968 he received his Masters of Divinity Degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), which is located in Alexandria, Virginia, and in 1993 and 2000 he earned the Doctor of Divinity and Doctorate in Ministry degrees from the seminary. Bishop Townsend also served as a professor at VTS for several years. He has taught at Virginia Tech and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he lectured in English literature and philosophy.


He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood for the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York in 1969, and from that time he served the people of the Episcopal Church as Rector in several parishes. In 1992 he was consecrated as the Bishop of the Diocese of Easton (ECUSA), a ministry he exercised until his retirement in 2001. After his retirement from the active ministry of the episcopate, Bishop Townsend served the Church as being the Interim Rector for a number of parishes in Ohio, Virginia and Maryland until permanent Rectors had been called. He remains a participating member of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church.


In a statement to the people of Emmanuel Church, Bishop Townsend said, “Thank you for inviting me into your lives, allowing Barbara’s [my wife] and my path to join with yours. It continues to amaze and delight me that after being a deacon, priest, and bishop for forty years, I still get excited as God guides me into new stages of my life.”


He and his wife Barbara reside in Fort Ashby, West Virginia, where they have been steadily working on building their retirement home known as “Shepherd’s Croft,” a name that was decided upon because Bishop Townsend is “a shepherd of sorts” and Barbara was an actual sheep-breeder and shepherd. Barbara Townsend heads up the restoration of the Ashby’s Fort 1755 Museum, which is one of the forts established during the French and Indian War on the orders of the future General George Washington.


Emmanuel Episcopal Church was established in 1910 by the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, and is located on 301 South Mineral Street, Keyser. The parish website is www.emmanuelepiscopalchurchwv.org. Following Bishop Townsend’s first Holy Eucharist at the parish, there will be a special luncheon held at the Parish Hall for the congregation and guests of the church.