The Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
The Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, elected in 2008. Previously he served as Canon Pastor of the Washington National Cathedral and Director of its Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage.
Bishop Sutton is a frequent leader of retreats and conferences on spirituality, nonviolence, the environment and reconciliation. He co-founded Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington (COMW), an ecumenical network of individuals and faith communities committed to the daily practice of Centering Prayer. In addition to publishing several articles on prayer, spirituality and justice, he’s a contributor to the books, The Diversity of Centering Prayer, and Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence.
Bishop Sutton has written about and been recognized as a thought leader on the issues of racial reconciliation and reparations, testifying on Capitol Hill with author Ta-Nehisi Coates, actor Danny Glover, economist Julianne Malveaux and others for Congressional Bill HR40 that calls for the establishment of a national bipartisan commission to study and make recommendations for addressing reparations as a restitution for the over 350 years of slavery and racial discrimination of African Americans. He has since lectured and spoken for the benefits that reparations can bring for American society before NPR, Fox News, the Chautauqua Institution and other public forums.
He has served on the boards of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, the Maryland Green Jobs Initiative, and Bishops United Against Gun Violence. He was named by the Center for American Progress in 2014 as one of “14 faith leaders to watch”.
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Bishop Sutton graduated from Hope College (Holland, MI), attended Western Theological Seminary earning his Master of Divinity, and completed Anglican studies at the University of the South, School of Theology (Sewanee, TN). He has served as a pastor of the Covenant Community Church in inner city Muskegon Heights, Michigan, and did graduate studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. A former professor of homiletics and liturgics at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey and at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, TN, Bishop Sutton has also served as Chaplain of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey; adjunct professor of preaching at the General Theological Seminary (New York City); vicar of St. Michael’s Church in (Trenton, NJ); priest-in-charge of St. Margaret’s and St. Mary’s parishes (Washington, DC); and associate rector for mission and spirituality at St. Columba’s Church (Washington, DC).
Bishop Sutton is married to Sonya Subbayya Sutton, an internationally-recognized pianist, organist and choral director. They have four adult children and stepchildren.
