J. Neil Alexander
Encyclopedia
John Neil Alexander is the 9th bishop
of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
, being elected to that office March 31, 2001. On July 7, 2001, Bishop Alexander was installed as bishop
in a service at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia
. As of October 13, 2009, he is the Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee
.
. In 1976 he married Lynn Tesh Alexander, a pediatric nurse practitioner. They are the parents of three adult children, John, Kelly and Mary Catherine and grandparents of John Neil Alexander III.
He graduated from Moravian College
in 1976 with a B.A. in Music
. In 1979, he graduated the University of South Carolina
with a Master of Music
.
In 1980, Bishop Alexander earned a Master of Divinity
from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
. He was ordained by the North Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church in America. His first parish was Faith Lutheran Church in Murray Hill, New Jersey
.
From there, Alexander took up doctoral studies at The General Theological Seminary
of the Episcopal Church (TEC), and in 1984 became Professor of Liturgics
and Spirituality
and Dean of Keffer Memorial Chapel at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
. He returned to The General Seminary in 1987 as Director of the Chapel and Teaching Fellow, and joined the Faculty in 1989 to teach homiletics and liturgics. He was ordained as a deacon and then priest in the Episcopal Church in 1988 by New Jersey
Bishop Mellick Belshaw. He received the Th.D from General Seminary in Liturgics in 1993, where he became the Trinity Church Professor of Liturgics and Preaching. While at General, he served in a variety of parish settings in the metropolitan New York area. He has also taught at Yale
, Drew
, and Wilfrid Laurier
universities.
Prior to becoming bishop, Alexander had moved to the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee
where he served as the Norma and Olin Mills Professor of Divinity. He was also Priest-in-Charge at St. Agnes' Church in Cowan, Tennessee
.
In January 2006, Bishop Alexander was nominated for the 26th Presiding Bishop
of the Episcopal Church, in which election he was defeated by the current Presiding Bishop
, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts-Schori.
On February 8, 2011, Alexander announced that he would step down as Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta in the fall of 2012 after the election of his successor. He has accepted a post as professor of liturgics at the Candler School of Theology
at Emory University
. Alexander will continue as chancellor of the University of the South, a position he has held since 2009, through the October 2012 meeting of the board of trustees. http://www.episcopalatlanta.org/News/newsView.asp?NewsId=409681186
J. Neil Alexander was the 968th
bishop
consecrated in the Episcopal Church.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St...
, being elected to that office March 31, 2001. On July 7, 2001, Bishop Alexander was installed as bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
in a service at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. As of October 13, 2009, he is the Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...
.
Background
Bishop Alexander was born January 23, 1954, in Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
. In 1976 he married Lynn Tesh Alexander, a pediatric nurse practitioner. They are the parents of three adult children, John, Kelly and Mary Catherine and grandparents of John Neil Alexander III.
He graduated from Moravian College
Moravian College
Moravian College a private liberal arts college, and the associated Moravian Theological Seminary are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region.-History:...
in 1976 with a B.A. in Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. In 1979, he graduated the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
with a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
.
In 1980, Bishop Alexander earned a Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary , located in Columbia, South Carolina is a theological seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offering first and second professional theological degrees.-History:...
. He was ordained by the North Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church in America. His first parish was Faith Lutheran Church in Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill is an unincorporated area within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County in northern New Jersey, United States....
.
From there, Alexander took up doctoral studies at The General Theological Seminary
General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....
of the Episcopal Church (TEC), and in 1984 became Professor of Liturgics
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
and Spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and Dean of Keffer Memorial Chapel at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada affiliated with the nondenominational Wilfrid Laurier University, located in Waterloo, Ontario.-History:...
. He returned to The General Seminary in 1987 as Director of the Chapel and Teaching Fellow, and joined the Faculty in 1989 to teach homiletics and liturgics. He was ordained as a deacon and then priest in the Episcopal Church in 1988 by New Jersey
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey forms part of Province II of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the southern and central New Jersey counties of Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Camden, Atlantic, Gloucester, Salem,...
Bishop Mellick Belshaw. He received the Th.D from General Seminary in Liturgics in 1993, where he became the Trinity Church Professor of Liturgics and Preaching. While at General, he served in a variety of parish settings in the metropolitan New York area. He has also taught at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Drew
Drew University
Drew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...
, and Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and a future proposed campus in Milton, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada....
universities.
Prior to becoming bishop, Alexander had moved to the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...
where he served as the Norma and Olin Mills Professor of Divinity. He was also Priest-in-Charge at St. Agnes' Church in Cowan, Tennessee
Cowan, Tennessee
Cowan is a city in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
.
In January 2006, Bishop Alexander was nominated for the 26th Presiding Bishop
Presiding Bishop
The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
of the Episcopal Church, in which election he was defeated by the current Presiding Bishop
Presiding Bishop
The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts-Schori.
On February 8, 2011, Alexander announced that he would step down as Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta in the fall of 2012 after the election of his successor. He has accepted a post as professor of liturgics at the Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology, Emory University, is one of 13 seminaries of the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1914, the school was named after Warren Akin Candler, a former President and Chancellor of Emory University and a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South...
at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
. Alexander will continue as chancellor of the University of the South, a position he has held since 2009, through the October 2012 meeting of the board of trustees. http://www.episcopalatlanta.org/News/newsView.asp?NewsId=409681186
Consecrators
- Frank Tracy GriswoldFrank Tracy GriswoldFrank Tracy Griswold III is an American bishop. He was the 25th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church....
, 25th Presiding BishopPresiding BishopThe Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
of the Episcopal Church USA - Frank Kellogg Allan, 8th BishopBishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of AtlantaEpiscopal Diocese of AtlantaThe Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St... - Charles Judson Child, Jr., 7th BishopBishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of AtlantaEpiscopal Diocese of AtlantaThe Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St...
J. Neil Alexander was the 968th
Succession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States
This list consists of the bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, an independent province of the Anglican Communion. This shows the historic succession of the episcopate within this denomination.-Key to chart:...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
consecrated in the Episcopal Church.
Publications
Bishop Alexander is the author and editor of a number of publications in the fields of liturgics, homiletics, sacramental theology, and pastoral practice, including a number of his sermons.- This Far by Grace: A Bishop's Journey Through Questions of Homosexuality, Cowley Publications, 2003
- With Ever Joyful Hearts: Essays on Liturgy and Music Honoring Marion J. HatchettMarion J. HatchettMarion Josiah Hatchett was an Episcopal priest, scholar, and one of the primary liturgists who shaped 1979 Book of Common Prayer.Born in Monroe, South Carolina, Hatchett was the son of a United Methodist minister. In December 1946 he was confirmed as an Episcopalian while a student at Wofford...
, Church Publishing, 1999 - Waiting for the Coming: The Liturgical Meaning of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Pastoral Press, 1993
- Time and Community: Studies in Liturgical History and Theology, Pastoral Press, 1990
See Also...
- Episcopal Diocese of AtlantaEpiscopal Diocese of AtlantaThe Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St...
- List of Bishop Succession in the Episcopal ChurchSuccession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United StatesThis list consists of the bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, an independent province of the Anglican Communion. This shows the historic succession of the episcopate within this denomination.-Key to chart:...
- Atlanta Diocese Centennial History page on Bishop Alexander.