Jeffery William Rowthorn

Jeffery William Rowthorn (1934–2025) was a Welsh-born Anglican priest, bishop, liturgical scholar, teacher, editor, and hymn writer whose ministry spanned Britain, the United States, and continental Europe. Born in Newport, Wales, he studied modern languages at Christ’s College, Cambridge, then theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York and Cuddesdon College in England. He was ordained in the Church of England in the early 1960s and served in parish ministry in the dioceses of Southwark and Oxford before returning to the United States.

Rowthorn joined Union Theological Seminary in 1968 and in 1973 became part of the founding faculty of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, teaching in association with Berkeley Divinity School and Yale Divinity School. His work brought together pastoral theology, liturgy, congregational song, and ministerial formation. In 1987 he was elected suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. From 1994 until his retirement in 2001 he served as Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, helping shape its ministry across several national and cultural settings.

As a hymn writer, Rowthorn is especially associated with texts that connect worship with mission, creation, baptismal identity, justice, and the church’s vocation. His hymns include “Lord, You Give the Great Commission,” “Creating God, Your Fingers Trace,” and the Berkeley Divinity School hymn “Come, Holy Spirit, By Whose Grace.” He also worked as a hymnal editor, notably co-editing A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools with Russell Schulz-Widmar. In later years he and his wife Anne continued writing and teaching, including work that joined Christian worship with ecological reflection. Rowthorn died in Bloomfield, Connecticut, on July 23, 2025.