Key Points:
- Bishop George W. Bashore died Dec. 13 at age 90.
- Bashore helped many young clergy find their way through ordination and establishing their own ministries.
- He also was renowned for his beautiful singing voice, which he used in his ministerial duties as often as possible.
United Methodist Bishop George W. Bashore, a mentor to many who was renowned for his “marvelous” baritone singing voice, died Dec. 13. He was 90.
“He had a marvelous voice,” said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, one of numerous clergy advised and supported by Bashore over the years.
“He sang in church; he sang on the streets; he sang everywhere. … When he started to sing, you were able to capture the real essence of George Bashore.”
Elected a bishop in 1980 in the Northeastern Jurisdiction, Bashore served the then Boston Area from 1980 to 1988 and the then Pittsburgh Area from 1988 to 2000.
The Rev. Thomas Strandburg, senior pastor at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church in Pittsburgh, was also one of Bashore’s mentees. In addition, he was pastor to the late bishop in his later years at the church at Mt. Lebanon.
“He often would sing during annual conference sessions,” Strandburg said. “He would begin singing at the microphone to call us back into session.
“The bishop was well over 6-feet tall and barrel-chested, and he had the deep, resonant baritone voice that would go along with that.”
Among Bashore’s favorite hymns were “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Marching to Zion” and “Come Ye That Love the Lord.”
“I give thanks to God for Bishop Bashore, his life and ministry,” said Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, in a Dec. 13 post on the Western Pennsylvania Conference website. “George’s witness, life and legacy will no doubt live on through those of us who loved and did ministry with him, as we now allow his Christian witness, stories and action to continue to make a difference in this world through us.”
Born Jan. 21, 1934, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Bashore was educated at Princeton University and United Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the Evangelical United Brethren Church, which merged in 1968 with the Methodist Church to create The United Methodist Church. Bashore was a delegate to the 1966 special General Conference that took crucial steps toward the merger as well as the 1968 Uniting Conference that finalized the union.
Retired Bishop Susan Hassinger, who was ordained in 1968, also regarded Bashore as a mentor. Like him, she also was part of the EUB.
“He was there as somewhat of a guide as I was going through the credentialing process for ministry,” she said. “He was very personable and caring.”
Bashore was the pastor of Inner City Parish in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he forged an innovative inner-city and interracial ministry, for 14 years. He became a district superintendent in 1973 and was elected to the episcopacy in 1980.
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As bishop, he took on additional roles as board president of what is now Discipleship Ministries and as a member of the denomination’s Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the Board of Publication. He also served as president of the Council of Bishops.
In retirement, he served as bishop-in-residence at Mt. Lebanon Church in Pittsburgh, Strandburg’s church.
During his term as bishop in western Pennsylvania, “his vision was that every pastor would be a spiritual trailblazer, and every congregation would be a welcoming and inviting community of faith,” Strandburg said.
“For almost a quarter of a century, I’ve carried this with me, and I have often thought about these two things: ‘As a pastor, am I being a spiritual trailblazer? Am I having the courage to do something new?’”
Bashore loved The United Methodist Church, Steiner Ball said. “Throughout his life, he helped people to hear and discover God’s call on their lives and he came alongside people as they grew in their Christian discipleship.”
Bickerton, who leads the New York and New England conferences, said Bashore took a deep interest in people.
“He just wove you into his life, and you felt as if you were the most important person in the room,” he added.
“Whether it was when he was an active pastor or an active bishop or an active retiree, the consistency of Bishop Bashore’s life … is a life well lived, and it is a model for how to pastor, how to lead, how to bishop and how to live the Christian life in an exemplary way.
“Wherever he was, there was a difference made,” Bickerton said.
Survivors include wife Carolyn Ruth Baumgartner, daughters Wanda Ruth Allison and Barbara Lynn Heagy, son John Willis Bashore, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Dec. 28 at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church. Memorial contributions may be made to the George and Carolyn Bashore Scholarship Fund at United Theological Seminary, 4501 Denlinger Road, Dayton, Ohio 45426.
Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the UM News digest.
