Bishop Barbara C. Harris

In 1988, Bishop Barbara Harris was elected suffragan (assisting) bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.  In 1989, she was consecrated a bishop, the first woman to be ordained to the episcopate in the worldwide Anglican Communion.  Bishop Harris has been active in professional and community organizations, as well as in national church service.

A member of the Union of Black Episcopalians and a past president of the Episcopal Urban Caucus, Bishop Harris has represented the Episcopal Church on the board of the Prisoner Visitation and Support Committee.  She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a former member of the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns.

After a long and distinguished career in the Episcopal church, Bishop Harris retired as bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2002 and currently serves as an assisting bishop to Bishop John B. Chane in the Diocese of Washington, DC.