Bishop of Atlanta

The Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander

IX Bishop of Atlanta

Bishop J. Neil Alexander was elected the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta on March 31, 2001, and was ordained and installed on July 7, 2001, at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Ga.

At the time of his election, Bishop Alexander was the Norma and Olan Mills Professor of Divinity at the University of the South School of Theology and was priest in charge of St. Agnes’ Church in Cowan, Tenn. Previously he served as the Trinity Church Professor of Liturgics and Preaching at The General Theological Seminary, New York City, while serving in a variety of parish settings. He has also taught at Yale, Drew and Wilfrid Laurier universities.

Bishop Alexander is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Moravian College, and the University of South Carolina. He earned a master of divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a doctor of theology in liturgics from The General Theological Seminary.  He is the recipient of two honorary doctorates.

Bishop Alexander is married to Lynn Tesh Alexander, a pediatric nurse practitioner. They are the parents of three adult children, John, Kelly and Mary Catherine and grandparents of John Neil Alexander III.

Bishop Alexander has served the wider church in a variety of capacities. He presently serves as president of the Board of Directors of the College for Bishops, as a regent of the University of the South, and as a member of the board of the Archives of the Episcopal Church.

In October 2009 he was elected the 23rd chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South by the university’s board of trustees. The chancellor is elected from the bishops of the university’s owning dioceses for a term of six years. 

Bishop Alexander is the author of This Far by Grace: A Bishop’s Journey Through Questions About Homosexuality, as well a number of publications in the fields of liturgics, homiletics, sacramental theology and pastoral practice. He has led a number of pilgrimages and mission trips to dioceses in Africa and South America and is placing a special focus on relationships with global-south dioceses.