Phoebe Alison Roaf (born March 8, 1964) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

prelate who is the fourth and current Bishop of West Tennessee.

Early life and education

Phoebe Alison Roaf was born on March 8, 1964, in Michigan. She is the oldest of four children born to

Andree Layton Roaf Andree Layton Roaf (March 31, 1941July 1, 2009) was an Arkansas lawyer and jurist. She was the first African-American woman to serve on the Arkansas Supreme Court, and is the mother of former NFL offensive lineman Willie Roaf. Biography Ea ...

, the first Black woman to serve on the Arkansas Supreme Court, and Clifton Roaf, a dentist. Her brother Willie is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. The family returned to her father's home of Pine Bluff when Roaf was five and she was raised attending Grace Episcopal Church, where she became involved in the youth group and then the state diocese's youth group. Roaf completed a bachelor's degree in history at Harvard University and then a master's degree in public policy at Princeton. She later earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the University of Arkansas Little Rock School of Law. In 2008, Roaf graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary with a

Masters of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

Career

Roaf worked as a researcher and analyst for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in Virginia and for other ventures in Philadelphia, for six years. After law school, she clerked for Judge

James L. Dennis James L. Dennis (born January 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, jurist, and former politician serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, with chambers in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ea ...

of the Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit (New Orleans) for two years, before working in commercial real estate in New Orleans. She left in 2005 to enroll in seminary. In 2008, Roaf became the first African American woman to be ordained a priest in the Diocese of Louisiana. She was ordained at age 41, and is known to parishioners as "Mother Phoebe". She served as associate rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans, where she was the first person of color to serve as a priest. She was called as rector of St Philip's Episcopal Church in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 2011, the first woman rector in the church's 150 year history. In November 2018, Roaf was chosen as the Fourth Bishop of West Tennessee by a vote of delegates to the Annual Diocesan Convention. There were three women on the ballot. She was consecrated bishop on May 4, 2019, at Hope Church (a congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church) in Memphis, used because of its large facilities, something no area Episcopal parish had. At the time of her election as bishop she was rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, the largest historically African American Episcopal Church in Virginia. Roaf is the first woman and the first African American to serve as bishop in West Tennessee, or in any of Tennessee's Episcopal dioceses, and the fifth woman bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church. She was consecrated by Presiding Bishop

Michael B. Curry Michael Bruce Curry (born March 13, 1953) is an American bishop who is the List of presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 27th and current presiding bishop and Primates in the Anglican Communion, primate of The ...

, who said "“To be sure, she and the people of West Tennessee are making history as she is the first woman as well as the first African American to hold such a position. But the real history-making moment is the hope ... She was elected because she is a woman committed to Jesus of Nazareth and His way of love. And that way of love is the way to life for us all, Black or white, Anglo or Latino, rich or poor, liberal or conservative, gay or straight, old or young. And that is a sign of hope for our country and our world. That’s history!”

References

Living people 1964 births Princeton University alumni University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumni Harvard College alumni Religious leaders from Memphis, Tennessee African-American Episcopalians Women Anglican bishops Episcopal bishops of West Tennessee {{Anglican-bio-stub