Tennessee bishop announces plans to step down in 2027 after 20 years leading diocese
[Episcopal News Service] Tennessee Bishop John Bauerschmidt announced June 30 that he plans to step down from leading the Nashville-based diocese in January 2027, and called for the election of his successor.
Bauerschmidt, a native of Virginia, has served as bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee since 2007. His diocese includes Episcopal congregations in the central third of Tennessee, one of three dioceses in the state.
“Serving as your diocesan bishop has been the singular privilege of my ordained ministry, and a personal joy,” Bauerschmidt said in his announcement. “I am grateful to all of you for your support and encouragement in this work. I am especially grateful to my wife, Caroline, who has accompanied me in this ministry.”
The diocese’s standing committee also released a message thanking Bauerschmidt for his “nearly 20 years of faithful and loving service among us – for his deep care, steady leadership, and abiding devotion to Christ and Christ’s church.”
The standing committee said it would release more details July 8 about the upcoming bishop search process and the work of the search and transition committees. A webpage has been created for updates.
Before his consecration as a bishop, Bauerschmidt was rector of Christ Church in Covington, Louisiana. He was ordained a priest in 1985 in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and served at churches in Massachusetts and North Carolina. He also was a chaplain while studying at Oxford University in England, where were earned a doctorate in Christian ethics in 1996.
In recent years, Bauerschmidt, known as one of the church’s more theologically conservative bishops, has been a prominent figure in churchwide efforts to foster greater “communion across difference,” engaging in dialogue involving Episcopalians at all points on the theological spectrum.
