The Rt. Rev. Shannon Sherwood Johnston is the Bishop Coadjutor of The Diocese of Virginia. He was consecrated a bishop at the Washington National Cathedral on May 26, 2007. As coadjutor, he is exercising jurisdiction in the Diocese in the area of clergy deployment, in addition to assisting Bishop Peter James Lee and working with Bishop Suffragan David C. Jones in all responsibilities of episcopal ministry. Bishop Johnston will become the 13th diocesan Bishop of Virginia upon Bishop Lee’s resignation by May, 2010.

A native of Florence, Ala., Bishop Johnston was born on October 20, 1958. After attending public schools in Florence, he attended The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., being elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduating magna cum laude in 1981. He holds degrees in both philosophy and music. His first employment was in programming for young adults and youth, first at the University of North Alabama, Florence, and then with the Boys’ Club of Gwynn [now Boys’ and Girls’ Club] in Brunswick, Ga. In 1985 Bishop Johnston entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill. His studies during this period included two terms at Westcott House Theological College at Cambridge University in England, where he engaged in independent research as well as following the regular course work. Bishop Johnston received the M.Div. degree summa cum laude from Seabury-Western in 1988, graduating first in his class.

Bishop Johnston was ordained to the diaconate on June 11, 1988 and to the priesthood on December 14, 1988 by Bishop Robert Oran Miller in the Diocese of Alabama. He served as curate of St. Paul’s Church, Selma, Ala. before accepting a call in 1990 to become rector of Church of the Advent in Sumner, Miss. During this time in the Mississippi Delta region, he was a founder of the Kairos prison ministry at the nearby state penitentiary at Parchman, work to which he was intensely committed over the next four years. In 1994, Bishop Johnston accepted the call to serve as rector of All Saints’ Church in Tupelo, Miss. In the ensuing years, All Saints’ became noted for its profound healing as a congregation and for its remarkable growth, as it became a strong presence in outreach ministries (receiving national recognition for HIV/AIDS ministries) and in leadership for the Diocese of Mississippi. Bishop Johnston’s many roles in service to that diocese included two terms on the Standing Committee (president), nine years as a Convocational Dean, a term on the Diocesan Executive Committee (vice president), membership on the Commission on the Ministry and the diocesan Theology Committee, and being an instructor for the diocesan School for Deacons and the Leadership Program for Musicians (LPM). He was a deputy to the General Conventions of 2000, 2003 and 2006. Bishop Johnston continued to serve as rector of All Saints’, Tupelo until leaving for The Diocese of Virginia in May, 2007.

Bishop Johnston now serves on the Boards of the Virginia Theological Seminary and of Shrine Mont, Inc., the Diocese’s camp and conference center in Orkney Springs, Va. He works with Bishop Lee in the leadership of the Memorial Trustees for the Diocesan Center at Roslyn. Always maintaining a passion for liturgy and music, Bishop Johnston has served on the faculties of two LPM national conferences. He has been featured in several roles over the years for the annual Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy, a national conference directed since 1994 by his wife, Ellen Johnston, who is a professional church musician and clinician. Bishop Johnston and Ellen met at this conference in 1992, and were married at All Saints’, Tupelo, Miss. on May 20, 1995. In addition to his work in liturgy, Bishop Johnston promotes reading, study and dialogue in classic theology as a foundational resource for the church’s present life.

Bishop Johnston enjoys several hobbies (not the least of which is Green Bay Packers football) and he and Ellen are avid travelers. They also enjoy spoiling their house pets.