He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in 1939.
Cole was ordained deacon in June 1948 and priest that same year on December 5 at the Calvary Church in Columbia, Missouri by Bishop William Scarlett of Missouri.
He also served as a member of the general board of the National Council of Churches between 1963 and 1966 and a member of the legislative commission of the New York Council of Churches between 1964 and 1967 and acted as president between 1980 and 1983.
[2] He was consecrated on April 5, 1964, in Saint Paul's Cathedral in Syracuse, New York by Presiding Bishop Arthur C.
[3] He succeeded as diocesan on February 1, 1969, and retained the post till his retirement in 1983.