Chester Lovelle Talton (September 22, 1941 – November 20, 2025) was an American bishop in the Episcopal Church who served as the Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin."SAN JOAQUIN: Standing Committee nominates Chet Talton as provisional bishop", Episcopal News Service, January 19, 2011. Retrieved on July 25, 2023."Chester Lovell Talton", Episcopal Church, March 16, 2022. Retrieved on July 25, 2023.
Background Talton was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Chester Talton and Mae Ola Shells. He was ordained deacon in 1970 and to the priesthood in February 1971, in the San Francisco-based Diocese of California. He married Karen Louise Warren on August 25, 1963, and has four children from this union. Karen Talton died in 2003. Talton remarried in 2007, to April Grayson, a lay leader in the Diocese of Los Angeles. He was African American, and one of 37 black bishops who have been consecrated by the Episcopal Church.
Talton died following declining health form spinal surgery and hospitalization, in Altadena, California, on November 20, 2025, at the age of 84.RIP: The Rt. Rev. Chester Talton, retired Los Angeles bishop suffragan, dies at 84
Education Talton studied at California State University, Hayward, California where he earned his B.S. in 1965, and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, California, where he earned his M.Div. in 1970, and ultimately his D.D.
Positions held Positions held included Provisional Bishop, Diocese of San Joaquin, 2011–2014; Bishop Suffragan, Diocese of Los Angeles, 1991 to 2010;"First Black Episcopal Bishop in West Ordained", Los Angeles Times, January 27, 1991. Retrieved on July 25, 2023. Rector, St. Philip's Church, New York City (Harlem), 1985–1990; Mission Officer, Trinity Church Wall Street, New York City, 1981–1985; Rector, St. Philip's Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1976–1981; Vicar, Holy Cross Church, Chicago, Illinois, 1973–1976; Vicar, St. Mathias' Mission, and Curate, All Saints' Church, Carmel, California, 1971–1973; and Vicar, Good Shepherd Church, Berkeley, California, 1970–1971.
Talton's consecrators were Edmond L. Browning, Orris George Walker, and Robert Marshall Anderson.
Bibliography Race and prayer: collected voices, many dreams / Malcolm Boyd and Chester L. Talton, editors. Harrisburg, Pa.: Morehouse Pub., c. 2003. xii, 202 p. : ill.; 23 cm. (pbk.)
External links Office of Black Ministries: Chester Lovelle Talton Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles: Bishops' Offices RIP: The Rt. Rev. Chester Talton, retired Los Angeles bishop suffragan, dies at 84 Bishop Chester Talton, retired suffragan of Los Angeles, dies at 84
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