Karin MacPhail consecrated 7th bishop of Southwestern Virginia

The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia ordained and consecrated the Rt. Rev. Karin Lee MacPhail as its seventh bishop on June 13 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe was the chief consecrator. Photo: Griffin Pivarunas

[Diocese of Southwestern Virginia] The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia ordained and consecrated the Rt. Rev. Karin Lee MacPhail as its seventh bishop on June 13 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Virginia. MacPhail, who succeeds the Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas, is the first female bishop in the 107-year history of the diocese.

Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe served as the chief consecrator. Joining Rowe as co-consecrators were Bourlakas, Texas Bishop Suffragan Jeff Fisher, former Virginia Bishop Suffragan Susan Goff, Maryland Bishop Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, Utah Bishop Phyllis Spiegel and Bishop Phyllis Milton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Virginia Synod.

In the days leading up to her consecration, MacPhail said, “I am deeply honored at the trust that has been placed in me and humbled by the work of the Holy Spirit in this call. I look forward with great joy to supporting and serving all the parishes, ministries and people of the diocese as we grow in unity and community together, loving and serving God and all our neighbors, and always grounded in the love of Jesus Christ.”

MacPhail was elected on the third ballot from a slate of four nominees during the diocese’s annual convention on Jan. 31, 2026. A priest for more than 22 years, MacPhail most recently served as rector of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Roanoke, and previously at Christ Church in Millwood and St. Paul’s Memorial Church in Charlottesville, both in the Diocese of Virginia.

The holder of an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary, MacPhail and her husband, the Rev. Alexander MacPhail, live in Roanoke and are the parents of two college-aged children, Maggie and Peter.

As bishop of Southwestern Virginia, MacPhail will oversee the spiritual care and leadership of 50 churches in five convocations, including two ecumenical parishes, and more than 9,500 communicants. The diocese, stretching from Staunton and Waynesboro southwest along the I-81 corridor to Abingdon and Bristol, also includes the Phoebe Needles Camp and Conference Center in Callaway, Grace House on the Mountain in St. Paul, Westminster Canterbury retirement community in Lynchburg and Boys Home of Virginia in Covington.