Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835 - January 23, 1893), was a noted United States clergyman and author, who briefly served as Bishop of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church during the early 1890s. December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ... The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Washington DC is the national cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ...

Early life and education

Brooks was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Through his father, William Gray Brooks, he was descended from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, a very devout woman, he was a great-grandson of the founder of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. Four of the couple's six sons -- Phillips, Frederic, Arthur and John Cotton -- were ordained in the Episcopal Church. City nickname: City on a Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Solar System), Athens of America Official website: www. ... John Cotton (1585?-1652) was a founder of Boston, Massachusetts and a highly regarded principal among the New England Puritan ministers, who also included John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Increase Mather (who became his son in law), and Thomas Shepard. ... Phillips Academy (also known as Andover, Phillips Andover, or simply PA) is a coed high school for boarding and day students grades 9-12 located in Andover, Massachusetts, near Boston. ... Andover is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ... The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Washington DC is the national cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ...

Phillips Brooks prepared for college at the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard University in 1855. After a brief period as a teacher at Boston Latin, he began in 1856 to study for ordination in the Episcopal Church in the Virginia Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia. Motto Sumus Primi Founded April 23, 1635 Head Master Ms. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States and was founded in 1823. ... Old Town Alexandria, viewed from the west, as seen from the observation deck of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. ...

Pastoral career

In 1859 he graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary, was ordained deacon by Bishop William Meade of Virginia, and became rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia. In 1860 he was ordained priest, and in 1862 became rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, where he remained seven years, gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall. 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... William Meade (November 11, 1789 - March 14, 1862), was a United States Protestant Episcopal bishop. ... Independence Hall, as it appears today. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent expression of the character of both men. In 1869 he became rector of Trinity Church, Boston. The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-four mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... Trinity Church in Boston. ...

In 1877 the rebuilding of the church was finished, the architect being his friend Henry Hobson Richardson. Here Phillips Brooks preached Sunday after Sunday to great congregations, until he was consecrated Bishop of Massachusetts in 1891. In 1886 he had declined an election as assistant bishop of Pennsylvania. He was for many years an overseer and preacher of Harvard University. In 1881 he declined an invitation to be the sole preacher to the university and professor of Christian ethics. On April 30, 1891 he was elected sixth Bishop of Massachusetts, and on the 14 October was consecrated to that office in Trinity Church. He died unmarried in 1893, after an episcopate of only 15 months. He is remembered in the Episcopal Church with a feast day on 23 January. 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Henry Hobson Richardson, portrait by Sir Hubert von Herkomer Trinity Church in Boston is one of Richardsons most famous works. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in Leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Publications

In 1877 Brooks published a course of lectures upon preaching, which he had delivered at the theological school of Yale University, and which are an expression of his own experience. In 1879 appeared the Bohlen Lectures on The Influence of Jesus. In 1878 he published his first volume of sermons, and from time to time issued other volumes, including Sermons Preached in English Churches (1883). Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

Today, he is probably best known for authoring the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem". A Christmas carol is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, or the winter season in general. ... Philip Brooks, an episcopal priest, was inspired in 1865 when he was visiting the town of Bethlehem. ...

Influence and legacy

Brooks' understanding of individuals of other ways and thought, and of other religious traditions gained for a following across a broad segment of society, and was thus a great factor in gaining increasing support for the Episcopal Church. His influence as a religious leader was unique. The degree of STD had been conferred upon him by Harvard (1877) and Columbia (1887), and the Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of Oxford, England (1885). Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

The Rev. A.V.G. Allen, an Episcopal clergyman and professor of ecclesiastical history at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, published several biographical works on Brooks. These included Phillips Brooks, Life and Letters (1901), a two-volume biography published at New York; and the one-volume Phillips Brooks (1907), also published at New York, an abbreviation and revision of the earlier work. Episcopal Divinity School, or EDS, is an Episcopal seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offering Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, and Doctor of Ministry degrees. ... Cambridge City Hall Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. ...

External links

• Works by Phillips Brooks at Project Gutenberg

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...