Eugene Taylor Sutton (born January 9, 1954)[1] is an American Episcopal clergyman currently serving as the 14th Episcopal Bishop of Maryland.

The Right Reverend

Eugene Sutton
Bishop of Maryland
Sutton in 2011
ChurchEpiscopal Church
ProvinceIII
DioceseMaryland
ElectedJune 29, 2008
In office2008–present
PredecessorRobert W. Ihloff
Orders
ConsecrationJune 28, 2008
by Katharine Jefferts Schori
Personal details
Born (1954-01-09) January 9, 1954 (age 70)
DenominationAnglican
(prev. Baptist)
SpouseSonya Subbayya Sutton
Children4
Alma materHope College
Western Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary
Sewanee: The University of the South

Early life and education edit

Sutton grew up in Washington, D.C., in a Baptist family. In 1976 he graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He later earned a Master of Divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary in the same city and was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America. Sutton continued his graduate studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, and after a few years joined the Episcopal Church, completing his Anglican ministry training in 1993 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.[2]

Career edit

Sutton served in parishes in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., and taught at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the General Theological Seminary.

On June 28, 2008, he was consecrated as Bishop of Maryland, having been elected at the previous diocesan convention on the first ballot. The consecration was held at the Washington National Cathedral, where Sutton had served as canon pastor. He became the first African American bishop for the Diocese of Maryland, and was installed in the Cathedral of the Incarnation on June 29, 2008.

On September 17, 2021, he announced his intention to retire in 2024.[3] He will be succeeded by the Rev. Canon Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, who was elected bishop coadjutor in 2023.[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Episcopal Clerical Directory 2013 (2013). New York: Church Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-89869-888-6, p. 936.
  2. ^ "Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton". Institute for Sustainable Communities. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  3. ^ Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Search for the Fifteenth Bishop of Maryland. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  4. ^ Episcopal News Service, "Maryland diocese elects Carrie Schofield-Broadbent bishop coadjutor", 27 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
Episcopal Church (USA) titles
Preceded by Bishop of Maryland
2008–
Incumbent