Jackson Biggers

Jackson Cunningham Biggers (born 16 May 1937) is an American Anglican missionary bishop. Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he spent much his career in Malawi and served as the first Bishop of Northern Malawi in the Church of the Province of Central Africa in the 1990s.

Early life, education and ordination Biggers was born in 1937 in Corinth, Mississippi to a farmer and hardware store owner. After graduating from public schools in Corinth, he attended Georgetown University before receiving a B.A. from the University of Mississippi in 1960. Biggers went on to the School of Theology at the University of the South, graduating in 1963. Biggers was ordained to the diaconate in the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi in 1963 while serving at St. James' Episcopal Church in Jackson, then to the priesthood by Bishop John Allin in 1964.

Missionary to Malawi Sermons preached at Sewanee by Bishops Stephen Neill and Donald Arden fueled Biggers' interest in overseas missions and Malawi in particular. He relocated to the Diocese of Malawi in 1964, initially serving for two years as rector of St. Peter's, Lilongwe, as well as chaplain to suffragan bishop Josiah Mtekateka.

Biggers was consecrated by Archbishop Walter Khotso Makhulu on 4 April 1995 in Mzuzu, where he preached to a crowd of 3,000 in Chewa. He spent much of his time at St Peter's Cathedral, Likoma, commuting via boat to the mainland for episcopal duties. During his episcopacy, he raised funds for facilities in Likoma and Mzuzu. He also developed health services, primary and secondary schools, relief programs and clergy training in the diocese. Biggers left Malawi in 2000, stepping down as bishop, to receive successful cancer treatment.

The 50th anniversary of Biggers' ordination was celebrated in 2013 during a service at Likoma Cathedral, where the diocese's newly formed Bishop Biggers Secondary School was named in his honor.