Warren Prall Watters

Who was Warren Prall Watters?

Warren Prall Watters was the founding archbishop of the Free Church of Antioch, one of several Independent Catholic Churches.

Watters was born in Imperial, Nebraska in 1890. He was an accomplished musician and concert pianist and was educated at Grinnell, Northwestern, Drake, and the University of California. He later did post-graduate doctoral work at the Conservatory of Music in Paris.

Watters was deeply interested in esoteric spiritualities and was for many years a member of the Theosophical Society and of its Esoteric School. He was ordained priest in Chicago, Illinois in June, 1927, by Bishop Edwin Burt Beckwith of the Liberal Catholic Church. Following his ordination, he served in the Liberal Catholic Church of Omaha, Nebraska, under Bishop Eklund, a charge he held for 17 years. In 1967, Watters was appointed Vicar General of the International Liberal Catholic Church and became bishop-elect in that church in 1970.

He was drawn to the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch because of its willingness to ordain women.