Bishop John Guernsey
Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic
Bishop John A.M. Guernsey served as the Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America, serving from 2011 until his retirement in 2023.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bishop Guernsey is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He 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, Woodbridge, VA, a position he held for 29 years.
He served as an Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology in the area of Stewardship at the Virginia Theological Seminary from 1982 until 1993. In 2007 he was consecrated by the Church of Uganda as its Bishop for Congregations in America. 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, and Bishop Guernsey was elected to be the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.
Bishop Guernsey has served the wider church in many ways. He served the ACNA as Dean of Provincial Affairs for ten years, as well as a member of the Executive Committee, the Retirement Plan Committee, the Development Committee, the Task Force on Religious Freedom, Islam and Interfaith Engagement, and the Marriage Task Force. He was for many years the Chairman of the Board of Sharing of Ministries Abroad – USA (SOMA), an Anglican short-term mission organization.
Bishop Guernsey lives in Woodbridge, Va. with his wife, Meg Phillips Guernsey. They have two married children and four spectacular grandchildren.
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