The Rev. Canon Susan Goff

The Rev. Canon Susan E. Goff joined the Bishop’s staff as Canon to the Ordinary in January 2010. Canon Goff oversees the day-to-day operation of various episcopal ministries, including the discernment and ordination processes; misconduct prevention and response; the Title IV ecclesiastical discipline canons; and the transition process for clergy and congregations. Canon Goff came to the Diocese from St. Christopher’s, Springfield, where she served as rector for 15 years. She was also an adjunct instructor in liturgics and a trainer of seminarian supervisors at Virginia Theological Seminary. Her prior positions were as rector of Immanuel, Old Church, in Mechanicsville; chaplain of St. Catherine’s School in Richmond; and chaplain of St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock. During her 31 years of ordained ministry in the Diocese of Virginia, she was a deputy to three General Conventions, served on the Standing Committee for two terms, was dean of two regions and chaired or was a member of numerous diocesan committees and task groups. Canon Goff earned her master of divinity degree, with distinction, from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. While a seminarian, she directed Eagle's Nest, the summer camp of the Diocese of Newark, for three summers. During a two-year leave of absence from seminary, she lived and worked among Arapaho people as a missionary on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

Canon Goff is married to the Rev. C. Thomas Holliday, an interim ministry specialist who has served many congregations in the Diocese.

She was elected Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Virginia on April 21, 2012, and will be consecrated July 28, 2012, pending the consents of the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops of General Convention.