Walton, Aubrey Grey

United Methodist Church bishop Aubrey Grey Walton was born on June 20, 1901 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas in 1928. He then earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Duke University in 1931. Walton received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Hendrix College (1946) and Duke University (1962). He also accepted honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Centenary College (1963) and Southern Methodist University (1965).

Walton was admitted to the North Arkansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1931. He was ordained Deacon in 1933 and Elder in 1935. For 16 years (1944-1960), he was pastor at First Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was consecrated Bishop of the Louisiana Area on June 26, 1960 and moved to New Orleans.

Bishop Walton was actively engaged with the global Methodist community as a member of the World Methodist Council and through his fundraising for international Methodist missions. Walton represented the Council of Bishops as the Official Visitor to Latin America from 1960 to 1968. He served as president of the Television, Radio, and Film Commission of the United Methodist Church from 1964 until his retirement in 1972. Additionally, he oversaw the merger of the racially divided separate Methodist conferences in Louisiana, Conference A and Conference B, in 1971.

Walton married Mildred Henry on September 17, 1930. The couple had two children, Mildred Ziegler and James M. Walton. Bishop Walton died in April 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mildred Henry Walton died on December 23, 1999 in Little Rock, Arkansas at the age of 95.

Sources:

Harmon, Nolan B., Ed. Encyclopedia of World Methodism. Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1974. Walton, Aubrey Grey, by Nolan B. Harmon.

Biographical sketches folder, Aubrey G. Walton papers, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

From the guide to the Aubrey G. Walton papers BridArch 301. 26., 1941-1977, 1960-1975, (Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University)