Our new bishop: The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook

The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook was ordained and consecrated as the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego on June 15 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego. Brown Snook is the first woman to serve as bishop in the diocese’s 45-year history.

News stories about our new bishop include:

Fox 5 “Episcopal diocese welcomes first female bishop”

KUSI: “First woman elected as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego”

El Latino: “Primera mujer Obispo en San Diego”

San Diego Metro: “Mayor and interfaith leaders to welcome the first woman as bishop”

Times of San Diego: “Episcopal Diocese of San Diego welcomes its first female bishop”

Photos from photographers Susan Forsburg, Mike Conner, Cliff Berkowitz and Sukhī Heumann available here: Flickr Photo Album

The Episcopal Church’s 26th presiding bishop, and the assisting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego from 2017 through 2019, the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, led the service as chief consecrator and bishop presiding. Co-consecrating bishops include:

• The Rt. Rev. Dr. Edward J. Konieczny, Bishop of Oklahoma
• The Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, Bishop of El Camino Real
• The Rt. Rev. James Mathes, Fourth Bishop of San Diego
• The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop of Olympia
• The Rt. Rev. Kirk S. Smith, Fifth Bishop of Arizona
• The Rt. Rev. John H. Taylor, Bishop of Los Angeles
• The Rt. Rev. Ricardo Joel Gómez Osnaya, Bishop of Western Mexico, Iglesia Anglicana de México
• The Rev. Dr. Andy Taylor, Bishop of the Pacifica Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• The Rt. Rev. Dr. Kay Ward, Moravian Church in America, Northern Province

The Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement, was the preacher. Following the service, a celebratory reception was held at The Abbey next door to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

On June 30, the newly consecrated bishop will be formally welcomed and seated at St. Paul’s Cathedral at the 5 p.m. Evensong service. Her seating in the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, is symbolic of the bishop’s office.

Brown Snook was elected bishop on the first ballot at a special convention of the diocese on Feb. 2. She has served as the canon for congregational growth in the Diocese of Oklahoma since 2017. From 2006 to 2017, she served in the Diocese of Arizona as the church planter, vicar and then rector of a new Episcopal Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, The Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

Brown Snook attended college at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she earned her bachelor’s in English and managerial studies, and her master’s in business administration, and accountancy. She and her husband, Thomas Snook, have two adult daughters, one of whom lives in San Diego.

Brown Snook succeeded the Rt. Rev. James Mathes, who had served for 12 years. The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego was established in 1973 and has approximately 15,000 members across 43 congregations in the Southern California region.