Apostolic Succession
from St. Thomas the Apostle to the present time
in the line of
The Most ReverendGarland F. Byers, Jr., J.D., D.D.
Bishop to the Nations, under Apostolic Commission
1.Saint Thomas, Apostle and MartyrC Ocalled by Christ about A.D. 30
named in Scripture: named among the Twelve (Matthew 10:3); “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)
This line of apostolic succession extends from the Apostle Thomas, about A.D. 30, to the present day, a span of 1,996 years as of 2026.
The succession from St. Thomas to Shimun XVIII Rubil, Catholicos-Patriarch of the East, follows the list of catholicos-patriarchs kept by the Assyrian Church of the East: the same list by which the Church of the East traces its own apostolic succession to St. Thomas the Apostle.
Consecrations to the office of bishop were made, one to the next, through the churches named below.
Some bishops in this line are also honored as saints. The marks beside their names concern holiness of life only. They do not bear on the validity of any consecration: every bishop listed holds his place in the succession equally, whether or not he is honored as a saint.
- St.
- Saint: one whom a Church publicly honors as having lived a life of heroic holiness and as now being with God, and whose memory it keeps in its calendar. In the early Church saints were recognized by the acclaim of the faithful and their bishops; later, by formal canonization in the Roman Catholic Church and glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- Bl.
- Blessed: in the Roman Catholic Church, one who has been beatified, the formal step that precedes canonization as a saint.
- C
- Honored as a saint or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church.
- C O
- Honored as a saint by both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
- Red
- Martyr: one who gave his life for the faith.
The Churches do not always agree on who is a saint. One may honor a person whom another does not, and the marks show which Church honors each.
Seleucia-Ctesiphon
The Church of the East, which holds St. Thomas the Apostle as its founder, together with St. Thaddeus (Addai), Apostle of the Seventy, whom St. Thomas sent to Edessa, and St. Mari. The catholicos-patriarchs of the East, whose see was at Seleucia-Ctesiphon and later at Baghdad, from St. Thaddeus (Addai) to Shemon VII Ishoyahb.
- 2.St. Thaddeus (Addai), Apostle of the SeventyC Oc. 33
- 3.Aggaic. 66
- 4.St. MariCc. 81
- 5.Abrisc. 121
- 6.Abraham Ic. 159
- 7.Yaqob Ic. 190
- 8.Ahadabuic. 204
- 9.Shahlufac. 220
- 10.Papa bar Aggaic. 280
- 11.St. Shemon bar SabbaeC O Martyr329
- 12.St. ShahdostC O Martyr341
- 13.St. Barba'shminC O Martyr343
- 14.Tomarsa363
- 15.Qayyoma377
- 16.Isaac399
- 17.Ahha410
- 18.Yahballaha I415
- 19.Maana420
- 20.Farbokht421
- 21.Dadisho421
- 22.Babowai457
- 23.Acacius485
- 24.Babai497
- 25.Shila503
- 26.Elisha524
- 27.Paul539
- 28.Aba I540
- 29.Joseph552
- 30.Ezekiel570
- 31.Ishoyahb I582
- 32.Sabrisho I596
- 33.Gregory605
- 34.Ishoyahb II628
- 35.Maremmeh646
- 36.Ishoyahb III649
- 37.Giwargis I661
- 38.Yohannan I680
- 39.Hnanisho I686
- 40.Sliba-zkha714
- 41.Pethion731
- 42.Aba II741
- 43.Yaqob II754
- 44.Hnanisho II775
- 45.Timothy I780
- 46.Isho bar Nun823
- 47.Giwargis II828
- 48.Sabrisho II831
- 49.Abraham II837
- 50.Theodosius853
- 51.Sargis860
- 52.Enosh877
- 53.Yohannan II884
- 54.Yohannan III893
- 55.Yohannan IV900
- 56.Abraham III906
- 57.Emmanuel I937
- 58.Israel961
- 59.Abdisho I963
- 60.Mari II987
- 61.Yohannan V1000
- 62.Yohannan VI1012
- 63.Ishoyahb IV1020
- 64.Eliya I1028
- 65.Yohannan VII1049
- 66.Sabrisho III1064
- 67.Abdisho II1074
- 68.Makkikha I1092
- 69.Eliya II1111
- 70.Bar Sawma1134
- 71.Abdisho III1139
- 72.Ishoyahb V1149
- 73.Eliya III1176
- 74.Yahballaha II1190
- 75.Sabrisho IV1222
- 76.Sabrisho V1226
- 77.Makkikha II1257
- 78.Denha I1265
- 79.Yahballaha III1281
- 80.Timothy II1318
- 81.Denha II1336
- 82.Shemon IIc. 1385
- 83.Eliya IVc. 1405
- 84.Shemon IIIc. 1425
- 85.Shemon IVc. 1437
- 86.Shemon V1497
- 87.Eliya V1502
- 88.Shemon VI1504
- 89.Shemon VII Ishoyahb1539
The Shimun Line
From 1553, the catholicos-patriarchs of the Shimun line, whom the Church of the East counts as the successors of Sts. Addai and Mari, to Shimun XVIII Rubil.
- 90.Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa1553
- 91.Abdisho IV Maron1555
- 92.Yahballaha IV1577
- 93.Shimun IX Dinkha1580
- 94.Shimun X Eliya1600
- 95.Shimun XI Eshuyow1638
- 96.Shimun XII Yoalaha1656
- 97.Shimun XIII Dinkha1662
- 98.Shimun XIV Shlemon1700
- 99.Shimun XV Maqdassi Mikhail1740
- 100.Shimun XVI Yohannan1780
- 101.Shimun XVII Abraham1820
- 102.Shimun XVIII Rubil1861
India
From Mar Abdisho, consecrated by Patriarch Shimun XVIII in 1862 as Metropolitan of India, each bishop consecrated by the one listed before him.
- 103.Anthony Thondanatt (Mar Abdisho)1862
- 104.Luis Mariano Soares (Mar Basilius)1899
England
From Mar Jacobus, consecrated in 1902 as Bishop of Mercia, each bishop consecrated by the one listed before him.
- 105.Ulric Vernon Herford (Mar Jacobus)1902
- 106.William Stanley McBean Knight (Mar Paulus)1925
- 107.Hedley Coward Bartlett1931
- 108.Hugh George de Willmott Newman (Mar Georgius)1945
- 109.Richard Kenneth Hurgon1946
Sweden and America
From Bertil Persson, of Sweden, to the bishop who carried this succession to the present day.
- 110.Nils Bertil Alexander Persson1985
- 111.Samuel Guido, Jr.2004
112.Garland F. Byers, Jr.2013
Holy Orders
- Ordination
- August 17, 2008, by the laying on of hands, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
- Consecration to the Holy Order of Bishop
- April 20, 2013, by the laying on of hands during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, meeting that day at American Legion Post 16, Slatington, Pennsylvania.
- Principal consecrator
- The Most Reverend Samuel Guido, Jr.
- Co-consecrators
- Bishop Bradley A. Varvil
Bishop Michael Byus
Bishop James Thompson
The certificates of ordination and consecration, with photographs of the consecration, are presented on the About the Bishop page.
Service
Consecrated to the Holy Order of Bishop on April 20, 2013, within the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., in which he subsequently served as Archbishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Bishop Byers is no longer affiliated with that body.
Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa), conferred by the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., April 20, 2013.
