[1] Denny entered the ordained ministry of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the M.E.

Denny was Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy at Vanderbilt University from 1891 to 1910.

"[3] As a result, he was dismissed by Chancellor James Hampton Kirkland, and replaced by Herbert Charles Sanborn.

He and his son, Collins Denny Jr., took their legal challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in the matter, which ended all challenges to the 1939 unification of The Methodist Church.

Prior to his election to the episcopacy, Collins toured Asiatic Missions, 1886–87.