Bishop Gilbert Wilson of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, who died on June 21st aged 81, was a man whose diligent and enthusiastic work for the Church of Ireland included overseeing its pension fund, advocating the ordination of women as priests and writing learned discourses on Scripture.
He retired only six years before his death, having continued to work until he reached the very outer age limit his Church would allow. The longest posting of his life as a clergyman was at Armoy, in north Co Antrim in the Diocese of Connor, where he spent more than a quarter of a century. That period meant a great deal to him - colleagues remember him starting many an assertion with the words, "When I was in Armoy . . ."
He was born in Belfast in 1918 to Adam Wilson, an accountant, and Rebecca Wilson (nee Bryans). He was christened William Gilbert Wilson.
He was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Trinity College Dublin.
He was ordained in 1942 and married in 1944, to Peggy Muriel Busby, an accomplished musician and music teacher, who survives him.
His long acquaintance with Armoy began when he was appointed Incumbent of Armoy with Loughguile in 1944.
That same year saw the publication of A Guild of Youth Hand- book, one of a series of practical publications for the Church of Ireland. Others included Church Teaching, a Church of Ireland Handbook (1954) and a revised edition of the Irish Churchwardens' Handbook (1979).
What is remarkable about him, though, is that he combined his interest in writing handbooks of this kind with authorship of scholarly and theological books and articles. These included An Examination of the Linguistic Evidence adduced against the unity of authorship of the First Epistle of John and the Fourth Gospel (1948) and The Original Text of the Fourth Gospel (1949).
Nor did his writing - an activity which necessitated working late into the night - end there. He also played a full and lively role in debate in the Church of Ireland as can be seen from the titles of still other works of his: The Church of Ireland - Why Conservative? (1970), A Critique of Authority in the Church (1977), Should we have Women Deacons? (1984), Why no Women Priests? (1987) and Towards Accepting Women Priests (1989).
He had six children: Bernard, a teacher, Rosemary, a librarian, Patricia, a teacher, Elizabeth, a librarian, Jeremy, a businessman and Michael, a graduate in computer studies.
As a member of the General Synod he was known as a good debater. He had no difficulty at all in taking the opposite line to that advocated by the bishops - he himself was elected a bishop at a relatively late stage. But he was not one of those people who debate without doing the work. He was a member of the Standing Committee for many years and of the Pensions Board. He was a great advocate of people continuing to work for as long as they could on the basis that the Church needed them, and he certainly exemplified this approach in his own life.
His posts brought him to St Mary Magdaline, Belfast (his first); Bangor, in the Diocese of Down and Dromore, as curate of St Comgall; Armoy, in the Diocese of Connor and, of course, to Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. He was also Canon of Connor Cathedral, Incumbent of Christ Church Lisburn and Dean of Connor.
Armoy was, perhaps, the most important place of all to him. The church there bears evidence of his expertise in woodwork, done when it was rebuilt. That he should have such an expertise is further evidence that he was one of those people whose range of activity - he was also an accomplished sketch artist and an enthusiastic gardener - leaves ordinary mortals lost in wonder and perhaps feeling somewhat guilty.
Bishop William Gilbert Wison: born 1918; died June, 1999