Bishop-elect Rev. Phyllis Spiegel

Greetings Diocese of Utah. I was raised in Southwestern Virginia and baptized at St. Paul’s in Salem, Virginia. The youngest of three, my childhood was comprised of church, Girl Scouting, camping, and hiking the Appalachian Trail. I attended Emory & Henry, graduating with an interdisciplinary BA of Business Management, French, and International Studies. After graduation, I interned with Southern Empowerment Project (SEP) and spent my time learning grassroots organizing in Appalachia. Drawing on my undergraduate studies and time with SEP, I taught
Business and Commerce at a secondary school in Kenya for nine months. Returning to the U.S., I worked for the Girl Scouts briefly before opening a second location of my mom’s nature store, For the Birds. Eleven years later, I answered the call to the priesthood.

My four-year-old daughter and I arrived at Virginia Theological Seminary in the fall of 2001, and I was called as Deacon/Priest-in-Charge to St. Thomas, a church dedicated to serving the unhoused, in Christiansburg, VA in 2004. St. Anne called me as rector in 2015 and I discovered a vibrant congregation embracing core values of welcome, inclusion, and discipleship. Community building, service,
outreach, and creation care are foundational aspects of my family life and priesthood. I am single, my hiking partner is a 90-pound Dutch Shepherd mix named Samson. My daughter and her husband live in England, and I am very close to my siblings, my stepfather, and our extended family. Family gatherings always involve enjoying the outdoors and evenings of games.

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