St. John the Evangelist, portrait page from the Book of Kells, about A.D. 800

Apostolic Succession

from St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, through the Episcopal Church of Scotland and Bishop Samuel Seabury, to the present time

in the line of

The Most ReverendGarland F. Byers, Jr., J.D., D.D.

Bishop to the Nations, under Apostolic Commission

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1.Saint John, Apostle and EvangelistC Ocalled by Christ about A.D. 30
named in Scripture: called with his brother James, the sons of Zebedee (Matthew 4:21–22); named among the Twelve (Matthew 10:2)

This line of apostolic succession extends from the Apostle John, about A.D. 30, to the present day, a span of 1,996 years as of 2026.

Consecrations to the office of bishop were made, one to the next, through the churches named below.

Some bishops in this line are also honored as saints. The marks beside their names concern holiness of life only. They do not bear on the validity of any consecration: every bishop listed holds his place in the succession equally, whether or not he is honored as a saint.

St.
Saint: one whom a Church publicly honors as having lived a life of heroic holiness and as now being with God, and whose memory it keeps in its calendar. In the early Church saints were recognized by the acclaim of the faithful and their bishops; later, by formal canonization in the Roman Catholic Church and glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Bl.
Blessed: in the Roman Catholic Church, one who has been beatified, the formal step that precedes canonization as a saint.
C
Honored as a saint or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church.
C O
Honored as a saint by both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Red
Martyr: one who gave his life for the faith.

The Churches do not always agree on who is a saint. One may honor a person whom another does not, and the marks show which Church honors each.

Smyrna

The Church of Smyrna in Asia, whose bishop St. Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John and was appointed by the apostles.

  1. 2.St. PolycarpC O Martyrc. 100

Lyon

The See of Lyon in Gaul, founded by St. Pothinus, whom St. Polycarp sent from Asia, and led after him by St. Irenaeus, also a disciple of St. Polycarp. Its bishop Aetherius was among those to whom Pope St. Gregory the Great commended St. Augustine on his mission to England.

  1. 3.St. PothinusC O Martyr2nd c.
  2. 4.St. IrenaeusC O Martyr177
  3. 5.St. ZachariasC Oc. 202
  4. 6.Helios3rd c.
  5. 7.St. FaustinusC O254
  6. 8.Verus3rd c.
  7. 9.Julius3rd c.
  8. 10.Ptolemaeus3rd c.
  9. 11.Vocius314
  10. 12.Maximus4th c.
  11. 13.Tetradius4th c.
  12. 14.Verissimus343
  13. 15.St. JustusC O374
  14. 16.St. AlbinusC Oc. 390
  15. 17.St. MartinC O4th c.
  16. 18.St. AntiochusC Oc. 400
  17. 19.St. ElpidiusC Oc. 410
  18. 20.St. SicariusC Oc. 422
  19. 21.St. EucheriusC Oc. 433
  20. 22.St. PatiensC Oc. 451
  21. 23.St. LupicinusC O491
  22. 24.St. RusticusC O494
  23. 25.St. StephanusC O501
  24. 26.St. ViventiolusC O515
  25. 27.Eucherius II6th c.
  26. 28.St. LupusC O535
  27. 29.Leontius542
  28. 30.St. SacerdosC O549
  29. 31.St. NicetiusC O552
  30. 32.Priscus573
  31. 33.Aetherius586

Canterbury

The See of Canterbury, founded by St. Augustine, who was consecrated in Gaul and sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great to bring the Gospel to the English in 597.

  1. 34.St. Augustine of CanterburyC O597
  2. 35.St. LaurenceC O604
  3. 36.St. MellitusC O619
  4. 37.St. JustusC O624
  5. 38.St. HonoriusC O627
  6. 39.St. DeusdeditC O655
  7. 40.St. Theodore of TarsusC O668
  8. 41.St. BrihtwaldC O693
  9. 42.St. TatwineC O731
  10. 43.St. NothelmC O735
  11. 44.Cuthbert740
  12. 45.St. BregowineC O759
  13. 46.Jaenberht766
  14. 47.Æthelhard793
  15. 48.Wulfred805
  16. 49.Feologild832
  17. 50.Ceolnoth833
  18. 51.Æthelred870
  19. 52.Plegmund890
  20. 53.St. AthelmC O914
  21. 54.Wulfhelm923
  22. 55.St. OdaC O942
  23. 56.St. DunstanC O960
  24. 57.Æthelgar988
  25. 58.Sigeric990
  26. 59.Ælfric995
  27. 60.St. ÆlfheahC O Martyr1006
  28. 61.Lyfing1013
  29. 62.Æthelnoth1020
  30. 63.Eadsige1038
  31. 64.Robert of Jumièges1051
  32. 65.Stigand1052
  33. 66.Lanfranc1070
  34. 67.St. AnselmC1093
  35. 68.Ralph d’Escures1114
  36. 69.William de Corbeil1123
  37. 70.Theobald of Bec1139
  38. 71.St. Thomas BecketC Martyr1162
  39. 72.Richard of Dover1174
  40. 73.Baldwin of Forde1185
  41. 74.Reginald Fitz Jocelin1191
  42. 75.Hubert Walter1193
  43. 76.Stephen Langton1207
  44. 77.Richard le Grant1229
  45. 78.St. Edmund RichC1234
  46. 79.Bl. Boniface of SavoyC1245
  47. 80.Robert Kilwardby1273
  48. 81.John Peckham1279
  49. 82.Robert Winchelsey1294
  50. 83.Walter Reynolds1313
  51. 84.Simon Mepham1328
  52. 85.John Stratford1333
  53. 86.Thomas Bradwardine1349
  54. 87.Simon Islip1349
  55. 88.Simon Langham1366
  56. 89.William Whittlesey1368
  57. 90.Simon Sudbury1375
  58. 91.William Courtenay1381
  59. 92.Thomas Arundel1396
  60. 93.Henry Chichele1414
  61. 94.John Stafford1443
  62. 95.John Kemp1452
  63. 96.Thomas Bourchier1454
  64. 97.John Morton1486
  65. 98.Henry Deane1501
  66. 99.William Warham1503
  67. 100.Thomas Cranmer1533

Church of England

After the Reformation, the bishops of the Church of England, each consecrated by the bishop listed before him, to Gilbert Sheldon.

  1. 101.John Scory1551
  2. 102.Matthew Parker1559
  3. 103.Edmund Grindal1559
  4. 104.John Whitgift1577
  5. 105.Richard Bancroft1597
  6. 106.George Abbot1609
  7. 107.George Montaigne1617
  8. 108.William Laud1621
  9. 109.Brian Duppa1638
  10. 110.Gilbert Sheldon1660

Scotland

The bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, from James Sharp, consecrated at Westminster in 1661 by Gilbert Sheldon, then Bishop of London and later Archbishop of Canterbury, through the Non-Juring bishops, each consecrated by the bishop listed before him, to Robert Kilgour, Primus.

  1. 111.James Sharp1661
  2. 112.Alexander Burnet1663
  3. 113.Arthur Rose1675
  4. 114.Alexander Rose1687
  5. 115.Arthur Millar1718
  6. 116.Thomas Rattray1727
  7. 117.William Falconer1741
  8. 118.Robert Kilgour1768

America

From Samuel Seabury, consecrated at Aberdeen in 1784 by the Scottish bishops as the first bishop of the Church in the United States. In 1792 Seabury joined the bishops consecrated in England in laying hands on Thomas John Claggett, uniting the Scottish and English successions in America; from Claggett the succession passes through the bishops who laid hands at each consecration listed here, to those who have carried it to the present day.

  1. 119.Samuel Seabury1784
  2. 120.Thomas John Claggett1792
  3. 121.Edward Bass1797
  4. 122.Abraham Jarvis1797
  5. 123.John Henry Hobart1811
  6. 124.Henry Ustick Onderdonk1827
  7. 125.Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk1830
  8. 126.Samuel Allen McCoskry1836
  9. 127.William Edward McLaren1875
  10. 128.William Montgomery Brown1898
  11. 129.Wallace David de Ortega Maxey1927
  12. 130.Nils Bertil Alexander Persson1986
  13. 131.Samuel Guido, Jr.2004

132.Garland F. Byers, Jr.2013

Holy Orders

Ordination
August 17, 2008, by the laying on of hands, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
Consecration to the Holy Order of Bishop
April 20, 2013, by the laying on of hands during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, meeting that day at American Legion Post 16, Slatington, Pennsylvania.
Principal consecrator
The Most Reverend Samuel Guido, Jr.
Co-consecrators
Bishop Bradley A. Varvil
Bishop Michael Byus
Bishop James Thompson

The certificates of ordination and consecration, with photographs of the consecration, are presented on the About the Bishop page.

Service

Consecrated to the Holy Order of Bishop on April 20, 2013, within the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., in which he subsequently served as Archbishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Bishop Byers is no longer affiliated with that body.

Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa), conferred by the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., April 20, 2013.

Episcopal seal of Garland F. Byers, Jr., bearing the motto Euntes in Mundum Universum