Arthur R. McKinstry

Arthur Raymond McKinstry (July 26, 1894 – December 25, 1991) was the American bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware from 1939 to 1954. He was elected November 15, 1938; consecrated February 17, 1939; and retired on December 31, 1954.

Personal life McKinstry was born in Greeley, Kansas, United States, to Leslie Irwin and Cevilla (Surbeck) McKinstry, He was born with a spinal curvature. He received his elementary schooling in Chanute, Kansas. He later went to Kenyon College where he was a founding member of the Sigma Pi fraternity chapter and served as chapter secretary. He was an organist for the college choir, the pianist for the Glee Club, and the director of the Puff and Powder club. He received two degrees from Kenyon: a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1918 and a Master of Arts in 1920. He also attended Harvard, and received the B.D. and S.T.B. degrees from the Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The University of the South conferred a Doctor of Divinity degree upon him in 1937. He married Isabelle Van Dorn, of Cleveland, in 1920; they had three daughters (Isabelle, Margaret, and Barbara) and two sons (James and Arthur). His wife, Isabelle, would die in 1971 and he would later marry Margery Robinson Vannerson. Margery died in 1988.

Professional life Rev. McKinstry was ordained a deacon in 1919 and a priest in 1920. His early assignments had him serve as chaplain of Bethany College, at Grace Cathedral in Topeka, Kansas, and at the Church of the Incarnation in Cleveland, Ohio. He was elected deputy to represent the Diocese of Texas at the Episcopal General Conventions in 1931, 1934, and 1937. From 1928 to 1931 he served as the chaplain for the New York State Senate.