Welcome, Bishop Alexander!

Please join us in welcoming The Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander, who will be our guest at Epiphany. He will serve as our preacher and celebrant at our 7:00 am and 9:30 am worship services on May 31 and June 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2026.

J. Neil Alexander is a bishop of The Episcopal Church and Professor of Liturgy and Quintard Professor of Theology, Emeritus, at the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He also served as Dean of the School of Theology. Before joining the Sewanee faculty in 1997 to teach liturgics and homiletics, he was the Trinity Church Professor of Liturgy and Preaching at The General Theological Seminary in New York City. He was the first to hold the Norma and Olan Mills Professorship of Divinity.

Alexander was elected the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, serving from 2001 to 2012, and he also served as the 23rd chancellor of the University of the South. During his tenure as bishop, he focused on growing new congregations and ministries, and established a successful communication plan for the diocese. He led many pilgrimages and mission trips to dioceses in Africa, focusing on building relationships with global-south dioceses. He has served in a variety of parish settings and has taught at The General Theological Seminary, Emory University, Yale University, Drew University, and Wilfrid Laurier University.

He is a former board member of the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, where he also served as a faculty member and chaplain for the Preaching Excellence Conference. Additionally, he was the first president of the Board of Directors of the College for Bishops. Alexander earned degrees from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Moravian College, and the University of South Carolina. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a Doctor of Theology in liturgics from The General Theological Seminary. He holds two honorary doctorates.

Alexander has written numerous articles on liturgics, homiletics, sacramental theology, and pastoral practice. His latest publication is Celebrating Liturgical Time: Days, Weeks, and Seasons, a commentary on sacred time as expressed in the rites of the Book of Common Prayer. In 2022, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church appointed him Custodian of the Book of Common Prayer.