Phoebe Alison Roaf
Phoebe Alison Roaf is an American prelate who is the fourth and current Bishop of West Tennessee.Biography
Roaf was consecrated bishop o n May 4, 2019, at Hope Church in Memphis. At the time of her election as bishop she was rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, the largest historically African American Episcopal Church in Virginia. She was the first African American woman to be ordained a priest in the Diocese of Louisiana and is the first African American woman to serve as an Episcopal bishop in the South.
Roaf received Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, concentrating in history. She later earned a masters in public affairs from Princeton University and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit for two years. She worked as a commercial real estate attorney in New Orleans before deciding to enter the ministry of the Episcopal Church. She studied for the ministry at Virginia Theological Seminary receiving the M.Div. degree in 2008. She is the first woman and the first African American to serve as bishop in West Tennessee.
