The Episcopal Church of the Mediator

david bell birney iv

DAVID BELL BIRNEY, IV

David was born in New Orleans , Louisiana on November 26, 1929.  He spent most of his early years in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , where he was a communicant of St. James’ Church.  Following graduation from high school, he attended Emerson College in Boston , later transferring to Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster .  While in Lancaster , he was active in the Green Room Theater of the College, and as an announcer and newscaster on the local television station.  He graduated with a BA in 1952 from Franklin and Marshall College .

In 1952 he began his studies at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria , Virginia , graduating in 1955 with a Master of Divinity degree.  Following his ordination to the Diaconate in June 1955, he became Curate of St. John’s Church in York , Pennsylvania , where he was ordained to the Priesthood by The Rt. Rev. Heistand in December of that same year and served there until 1957.    

On February 1, 1957, David became the first resident Vicar of All Saints’ mission in Hanover , Pennsylvania and remained in that position until 1963.   David Served as a Board member of the York County Mental Health Association and the York County Tuberculosis Society; and as President of the Ministerial Association of Hanover .

For four years Mr. Birney served as Chairman of the Department of Christian Education at the Diocese of Harrisburg, and was a delegate to three Synods of the Province of Washington .  When called to Mediator in November 1962 to begin work on January 20, 1963, he was serving as a member of the Advisory Committee to the National Church’s Small Church School Program; and as a staff member of the Middle Atlantic Parish Training Institute, a summer program of instruction and field work for seminarians and young women in the Church’s graduate schools in Christian education.  From January to May of 1963, he was an instructor in the Town and Country work of the Episcopal Church at the Philadelphia Divinity School .  He was called to Mediator when Harry Green was Senior Warden of the parish. 

David served on the Board of the Red Cross and United Fund, as President of Children’s Services at Wiley House, as a member of the Vocational Services Committee in the Allentown Rotary Club, on the Board of Associates at Muhlenberg College; on the Board of Trustees at the YWCA; and as a member of the Pastoral Services Committee of the Allentown Area Council of Churches while at Mediator.  He completed a course in Basic Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine in 1966 at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia . 

In 1968, while Rector at Mediator, David married Virginia Knorr. They adopted a son, David Bell Birney, V in 1973.  

David completed his work at Mediator in 1969 and went on to be a teacher of Pastoral Theology at Bishop Tucker College in Mukono , Uganda from 1969 to 1972; and a Visiting Instructor at Philadelphia Divinity School from 1972 to 1973.  From there, David went on to be Director of Clergy Training in the Diocese of Botswanna, Republic of Botswanna , Central Africa , beginning October 1, 1973.  

Dave had an interesting family history.  His great-great-grandfather was James G. Birney (see genealogy at http://bjmi.us/bay/1he/people/fp-birney-descendants.html.) who was very active in the antislavery cause in the early 19th century and in fact was the Abolitionist Liberty Party candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1840 and again in 1844.  James' fifth child, David Bell Birney, served as a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War. You can find a history of Major General Birney at  http://bjmi.us/bay/1he/people/fp-birney-david-bell.html.  All four of James' sons served as officers in the Union Army.  All four sons, along with one grandson, perished as a result of the war.

Information compiled from several sources in the Mediator archives 5/12/08.