The Southern United States’ first out lesbian Episcopal bishop was officially installed as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina last Saturday.
The Rev. Sarah Fisher, 54, was elected last November by a simple majority on the third ballot, the Christian Post reports. In her response to essay questions provided to the diocese during the selection process, she wrote that she has “a heart that can sit with people in times of both joy and heartbreak.”
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“I serve a very purple congregation,” she said in response to a question on how she approaches ministry in such a divided world. “We are not unanimous in politics, or in how much noise children should make in church, or what brand of coffee to serve. We are united in our desire to see, know and serve the Risen Christ.”
“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.”
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Fisher, who is married to the Rev. Mandy Brady, is now reportedly in charge of 66 North Carolina parishes and two college campus ministries.
“My friends, as we stand on the precipice of this new adventure together, may we hold fast to the promise that God’s power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine,” she wrote to the diocese in the wake of her election, according to the Episcopal News Service. “With a grateful and full heart, I can’t wait to see where we go.”
Over the last few decades, the Episcopal Church has become increasingly accepting of LGBTQ+ people. In 2015, the Episcopal General Convention voted in a landslide to allow same-sex couples to get married in churches. The vote was 129-26.
In 2025, the Episcopal Church signed on to a historic affirmation of support for trans people that included a variety of religious denominations.
The group said of transgender Americans, “During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat, there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender – a great many of us do.”
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