The Rt. Rev. Brian Lee Cole was ordained and consecrated fifth bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee on December 2, 2017. He was elected bishop onJuly 28, 2017, during the electing portion of the 33rd Annual Convention of the diocese.
Bishop Cole has under his pastoral and administrative care 47 parishes and worshiping communities in East Tennessee and North Georgia. The bishop visits each of these parishes and worshiping communities, where he preaches, confirms and receives persons into the Episcopal Church, and celebrates the Eucharist.
As bishop, he ordains priests and deacons and joins in the ordination of other bishops. In these rites, through the laying on of hands, the continuity with the early church of the apostles is demonstrated.
Bishop Cole presides over the annual diocesan convention and has administrative responsibility over diocesan activities.
A southeast Missouri native, Bishop Cole graduated from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1989. In 1992, he earned a Master of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with additional studies in Anglican Church History at The University of the South School of Theology, Sewanee, in 2001.
In 1998 he married Susan Weatherford, a poet, musician, avid gardener, and graduate of Berea College and University of Kentucky. They have one son, Jess.
Ordained a priest in 2002, Cole served as vicar at Church of the Advocate, a worshiping community of the Diocese of Western North Carolina for homeless persons in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. From 2005 to 2012, Cole was sub-dean at The Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville. He served as rector at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, Kentucky, from 2012 until his election as bishop.
Cole has served as an instructor in Appalachian Religion, Faith and Practices, and Appalachian Religion and Culture, at Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. N.C.; Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. Prior to his ordination as a priest, he served for seven years on the staff of the Appalachian Ministries Education Resource Center (AMERC) in Berea, Kentucky. Much of his work then involved teaching seminarians, listening to Appalachian leaders, both in and out of the Church, and learning how to read and appreciate the culture of the region.
He served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church 2006-2012 and on the Executive Committee of the Executive Council 2009-2012. He has also served as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the House of Bishops.
He has chaired, facilitated, led, co-led and participated in numerous committees, training programs, advisory boards, and retreats. Cole served as a General Convention deputy in 2006 and 2009. He is an associate of the Order of the Holy Cross.
Cole has been a featured preacher on the Day 1 weekly radio broadcast/podcast numerous times. His articles, sermons and other writings have appeared in The Gospel and Our Culture; Natural Saints: How People of Faith are Working to Save God’s Earth; Sacred Acts: How Churches are Working to Protect Earth’s Climate; Green Pulpit Journal; Appalachian Heritage; Heartstone; Aging and Spirituality; Lutheran Seminary Review; Iron Mountain Review, and Creation Care. He is a frequent contributor to the Living Compass Advent and Lenten reflection series. He also has a longstanding interest in the writing and thought of the monk, Thomas Merton.
Cole is an avid reader, aspires to be an avid hiker, and loves listening to good jazz music. He is always in the process of trying to give away books, while also purchasing books. While mostly a reader of poetry, Bishop Cole has also written a few, too.