In 1866 he was elected general agent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School Union and in 1868, corresponding secretary of the Sunday School Union and Tract Society, with residence in New York City. A complete series of his books forms an encyclopedia of modern Sunday School literature.
This work culminated in 1874, in the Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly, from which he founded, in 1878, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and was its Chancellor until his death.
He was made resident bishop at Zurich, Switzerland, 1900, and placed in charge of European work of the Methodist Church.
Bishop Vincent became preacher to Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Wellesley and other universities and colleges, and was the recipient of many honorary degrees.
In speaking of his great work at Chautauqua he remarked: “I do not expect to make a second Harvard and Yale out of Chautauqua, but I do want to give the people of this generation such a taste of what it is to be intelligent that they will see to it that their children have the best education the country can give.”
Bishop Vincent died in Chicago, May 9, 1920, aged 88 years.
Bishop Vincent’s son, Hon. George Edgar Vincent, a distinguished educator and powerful orator, is president of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Pennsylvania may well be proud to claim the ancestors of Bishop Vincent, the founder of Chautauqua, as their own.