Episcopal Church Installs First Openly Lesbian Bishop in the U.S. South
Rev. Sarah Fisher was first elected bishop last November.
Featured image courtesy of Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina/YouTube
The Episcopal Church just marked a historic milestone, installing Rev. Sarah Fisher as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina—and the first openly lesbian bishop to lead an Episcopal diocese in the U.S. South.
Fisher previously served as rector of St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia, before being elected bishop in November of last year. She earned majority support from both the clergy and lay delegates within the diocese on the third ballot, beating out two other candidates.
On May 23, 2026, Fisher was formally ordained and consecrated at the Riverfront Convention Center in New Bern, North Carolina, becoming the ninth bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina.
A spokesperson for the Episcopal Church told The Christian Post that Fisher is believed to be “the first openly lesbian Episcopal Church bishop for a diocese based in the South.” She has been married to Rev. Mandy Brady, also an Episcopal priest, for 25 years. Additionally, The Living Church reports that Fisher is the “first woman to serve as chief pastor of East Carolina.”
“I serve a very purple congregation. We are not unanimous in politics, or in how much noise children should make in church, or what brand of coffee to serve,” she wrote ahead of her election. “My approach is to dive into relationship—relationship with Christ, relationship with one another. Getting proximate to those who differ from us is vital to seeing the inherent dignity and divinity that dwells in every person. It is easy to hate an idea or a stereotype or a strongly held belief. It is harder to hate the neighbor you know, when you can recognize the light of Christ within them.”
Fisher’s election comes more than two decades after Rev. Gene Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. Since then, the denomination has approved same-sex marriage rites and expanded access to those rites across all dioceses.
