Bishop James O. Mote, who made national headlines when he led his Denver congregation out of the Episcopal Church after it began ordaining women, died April 29. He was 84 and had been in a nursing home in Indian apolis, his hometown.
Mote’s very public battle with his former bishop, William Frey, leader of the Colorado Episcopal diocese, went on for months because Frey didn’t want the congregation to leave.
When St. Mary’s Church, which Mote headed, met to vote on secession in 1977, no one but members was allowed in, and that included the bishop.
Two-thirds voted to follow Mote, and the other third moved to another location for worship. One of those against secession, the late Mina Conant Billmyer, said at the time: “For the congregation to crack up like this is to ruin the effectiveness of the whole church.”
Mote hired armed guards to “protect” the building for months, saying he believed the bishop would take over the property.
Last week, Frey called Mote “a great pastor,” but recalled the secession time as “painful” for the entire diocese.
The secession led to a nearly 10-year property battle between St. Mary’s, at 2290 S. Clayton St., and the Colorado diocese that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1986, the court refused to hear the case, letting stand an earlier ruling that gave the property to the diocese.
But the diocese leased the building back to the congregation for $1 a year for 10 years, after which the property was sold to St. Mary’s for about $100,000.
Mote, beloved by many and disliked by others in his congregation, went on to become a bishop in a breakaway church, the Anglican Catholic Church. Only months before that, he told The Denver Post, “I’d rather be a garbage collector than a bishop.”
But he steadfastly maintained that the new denomination wasn’t a breakaway but rather the true Episcopal Church that stood fast with longtime beliefs of the denomination. Dozens of other congregations, and their several hundred members across the country, agreed with him and seceded.
Mote was a national figure for a time, and though he complained about the publicity, he once said, “I have to try very hard not to fall into the sin of pride. But (the interviews) are kind of fun.”
Colorado Episcopalians were divided over Mote’s action, and many considered Mote out of step with changing times.
The ACC had its own schisms. After the split, Mote, who was master of the lightning retort, said: “The course of revolution never runs smoothly.”
The ACC also fought what it saw as liberal tendencies in the denomination – abortion and allowing remarriage after divorce. But when the Episcopal Church voted to ordain women, Mote boiled.
“If Jesus had ordained women, he would have ordained his own mother,” Mote said. “We believe she was without sin. It would have been wonderful, actually, to have at least one bishop without sin.”
Despite his fiery rhetoric, Mote always maintained his sense of humor and was a welcoming host and a doting father figure to his congregation.
A celibate by choice, he lived next door to the church and loved to tend to his roses. He always had a dog and cat, the most famous of the latter being Magnificat.
He often stationed a church member in the balcony checking each Sunday service for the missing. Those who didn’t show were likely to receive a call that afternoon with an offer to have Communion brought to their house if they were sick, said Gloria Ristow.
Some members, knowing they would get a call, would leave a message on their answering machine: “Father Mote, we are out of town.” Others, such as Jack Fried, were called at 5 a.m. on weekdays to remind them of the 6 a.m. Mass, Fried said.
“He could be bossy,” said Ristow, but he was “a wonderful counselor” and never failed to tend to members with problems, “even in the dark of night.”
Mote sent handwritten notes to members on special occasions and kept up on his “family” like a mother hen. “He was always free with the advice,” said the Rev. DeWitt Truitt, current pastor of St. Mary’s.
Except during worship services, he was never without a giant red plastic glass of sugared-up iced tea, said longtime friend and St. Mary’s member Karen Kulp of Aurora. He loved rich food “and buttered anything that stood still,” she said.
Fast-moving and fast-talking, he could drive a visitor up to the mountains, pointing out sites as he also was reciting the rosary, Truitt said.
James Orin Mote was born Jan. 27, 1922. He was a chaplain’s assistant in the Army and earned a bronze star in the Battle of the Bulge. He graduated from Nashotah House Seminary in Nashotah, Wis., in 1951, and was ordained in 1952.
His first church was St. Mary’s and he stayed there until 1992, when he moved to West Palm Beach, Fla. There, he continued as a bishop and served several congregations. He is survived by his brother, Richard Mote of Indianapolis, and his sister, Phyllis Clark of Juniper, Fla.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
