Bishop John Guernsey

Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic

Bishop John A.M. Guernsey was elected to be the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America on May 21, 2011. He was invested by Archbishop Robert Duncan on September 10, 2011.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bishop Guernsey is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA. Bishop Guernsey served as the Associate Rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, VA from 1978 until 1981 when he was called to be Rector of All Saints’ Church, Dale City, VA, a position he held for 29 years.

He served as an Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology in the area of Stewardship at the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary of Virginia from 1982 until 1993. In 2007 he was consecrated as the Bishop for Congregations in America under the Church of Uganda. With the launch of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in June, 2009, he was transferred from the Church of Uganda and became Bishop of the temporary Diocese of the Holy Spirit in the ACNA. In June, 2011, the Diocese of the Holy Spirit came to an end as its churches found permanent homes in other ACNA dioceses.

Bishop Guernsey serves the wider church in many ways. He serves the ACNA as Dean of Provincial Affairs, as well as a member of the Executive Committee, the Development Committee, the Task Force on Religious Freedom, Islam and Interfaith Engagement, and the Marriage Task Force. He served for many years as Chairman of the Board of Sharing of Ministries Abroad – USA (SOMA), an Anglican short-term mission organization. He served as the Dean of the Mid-Atlantic Convocation of the Anglican Communion Network from 2004 – 2009 and has served on the board of a number of other community and church organizations.

Bishop Guernsey lives in Woodbridge, Va. with his wife, Meg Phillips Guernsey. They have two married children and four spectacular grandchildren.