The Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton

Born in Arkansas in 1941, Bishop Talton has spent much of his life in California.  He attended California State University, Hayward (B.S. 1965) and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, (M.Div.'70, D.D.'92).  He was first ordained deacon in June 1970 and priest in February 1971, in the Diocese of California. He has served at churches in Berkeley, Carmel, Chicago, Saint Paul, and spent nine years in New York City as Mission Officer of Trinity Church (Wall Street) and the Rector of St. Philip's Church (Harlem), prior to becoming Bishop Suffragan (a type of assisting bishop) of Los Angeles in 1991. Bishop Talton retired from Los Angeles in 2010 after serving as Bishop Suffragan for 19 years. Bishop Talton has four adult children.  He and his wife, April, will divide their time between the Diocese of San Joaquin and their home in Pasadena.