Episcopal Bishop Morton Announces Early Retirement

Bishop C. Brinkley Morton, spiritual leader of the 25,000-member Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, has announced that he will take an early retirement because of his failing eyesight.

Bishop Morton, 65, told members at the diocese’s annual convention last week that he will take leave April 1 instead of Jan. 1, when he was scheduled to retire.

He said this week that his declining eyesight makes it difficult for him to fulfill his duties, and he plans to move to Memphis, Tenn., to be near his children. He has suffered from diabetes, which has affected his vision.

Church officials said a committee of clergy and lay people will begin a search for candidates for the position. A new bishop will be elected by delegates from each parish and could assume the post by early next year. Until a bishop can be named, retired bishops from other dioceses will perform Morton’s duties.

Morton was named bishop of the San Diego diocese in September 1982. Under his leadership, the diocese, which includes San Diego, Imperial and parts of Riverside counties, added seven new missions. The diocese now has 49 parishes and missions.

Morton, a native of Meridian, Miss., began his career as a lawyer and served in the state’s legislature before studying for the priesthood at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.

He served as rector of several parishes in Tennessee and Alabama before he was chosen bishop of the San Diego diocese.