He was ordained priest by Bishop Bentley on July 25, 1943, in St Mark's Church in Nenana, Alaska.

[2] Before earning his pilot's license in 1949, Gordon had traveled about 6,000 miles by dogsled to minister to villages along Alaska's Arctic Sea coast.

After returning to the state as a bishop but before earning his wings, Gordon visited all of the churches in his diocese on a three-month, 3,500-mile trip by boat.

After earning his wings, Gordon logged over 1 million miles on a small plane purchased by the church for him to visit his flock.

In order to continue Gordon's ministry, the Diocese of Alaska founded the Wings of the Spirit Transportation Endowment in 1992 as a non-profit corporation.