[1] Minnis was ordained deacon in Dec 1928, and priest in June 1929, by Bishop Benjamin F. P. Ivins of Milwaukee.
In 1931 he was appointed a Long-term fellow at the College of Preachers of the Washington National Cathedral, while in 1932, he became chaplain of the State Penitentiary, and rector of Christ Church in Joliet, Illinois.
In 1943, he was appointed vicar of the Church of the Intercession in New York City, where he remained till 1954.
[3] On May 19, 1954, Minnis was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Colorado on the first ballot, during a diocesan convention.
Minnis was charged and deposed for breaking his ordination vows in 1968, in front of a board made up of nine members, and chaired by Bishop John Seville Higgins of Rhode Island.