An Episcopalian bishop & post-American evangelical Christian chat
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Bishop Phoebe Roaf of The Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee for a wide-ranging conversation about work in Sudan, how church teaching and culture impacts us in ways we don’t understand, the shattering of American evangelicalism, and more.
Phoebe A. Roaf received a law degree from the University of Arkansas, clerked for two years for a federal Court of Appeals judge, and worked in a New Orleans firm from 2000 to 2005. By her early 40s, she had come to understand that her life’s calling was not the law. Rather, it was to serve as a member of the clergy in the Episcopal Church.
Armed with her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MPA from Princeton University, she attended Virginia Theological Seminary, the flagship seminary for the Episcopal Church, graduating in 2008 and now serving as vice-chair of its board of trustees.
By 2011, her theological career had taken her from Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans, where she was associate rector, to become rector at Richmond’s St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, the oldest African American Episcopalian Church in the South.
In November 2018, Roaf was chosen as Bishop in a balloting process in the diocese’s annual convention at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Germantown. The diocese, which covers all of Tennessee west of the Tennessee River, has 8,260 active members and an average Sunday attendance of more than 3,000.
To learn more about Operation Broken Silence, feel free to visit our website at obsilence.org.
I explore faith and American church culture from Memphis, TN. Never miss an article by signing up for my free newsletter or becoming a member. You can also subscribe to my podcast.
