Marc Handley Andrus (born October 20, 1956) is an American bishop of the Episcopal Church (

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

). He was the eighth

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Episcopal Diocese of California The Episcopal Diocese of California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Northern California. History The founding Episcopal diocese in the state, once encompassing all of ...

until his retirement in the summer of 2024. Prior to his election as Bishop of California, Andrus served as a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

in the

Episcopal Diocese of Alabama The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and serves the state of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast ...

Life, education and ministry

Andrus was born in 1956 in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

, to Mary Frances and Francis Andrus and was raised in

Kingston, Tennessee Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 United States ce ...

. He received his Bachelor of Science in plant science from the

University of Tennessee, Knoxville The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, two years before Te ...

in 1979 and a master's degree in social sciences from

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in 1982. After receiving his master's degree, Andrus went to work as a regional planner for the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission on Virginia's

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...

. In 1987, Andrus was awarded a Master of Divinity degree from the

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the largest and second-oldest such accredited se ...

in Alexandria, Virginia. After being ordained deacon on June 20, 1987, he became the senior associate at the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and was ordained priest on April 25, 1988. In 1990, Andrus became the chaplain at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, until 1997 when he became rector of Emmanuel Church in Middleburg, Virginia. He remained there until his consecration as bishop suffragan for the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama on February 7, 2002. Andrus was installed in 2006 as Bishop of California, where he oversaw the diocese's congregations and institutions in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties and the cities of Los Altos and part of Palo Alto. His leadership focused on key issues related to peace and justice, including immigration reform, civil rights for LBGTQ+ persons, health care, housing rights, and climate change. Early in his tenure as Bishop of California, Andrus co-chaired a community coalition that paved the way for the rebuilding of St. Luke’s Hospital, San Francisco. His climate advocacy work took him to the UN Climate Conferences in Paris ( COP21), Marrakesh ( COP22), Bonn ( COP23), and Katowice, Poland ( COP24), as well as the Dakota Access Pipeline demonstrations at

Standing Rock The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North Dakota, North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa Lakota, Hunkp ...

, North Dakota. While bishop of California, Andrus became a member of the We Are Still In Leaders' Circle, a diverse group of ambassadors for American climate action. He also served on the boards of the Episcopal Impact Fund, the Episcopal School for Deacons, Episcopal Community Services, and the

American Bach Soloists The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is an American baroque orchestra based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The orchestra was founded in Belvedere, California, in 1989. Performers share music from Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries during the ...

, among other organizations. In 2020, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy and religion from the

California Institute of Integral Studies The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is a private graduate school (with limited undergraduate offerings) in San Francisco. Founded in 1968 as the California Institute of ''Asian'' Studies, the name was changed in 1980. CIIS has b ...

. Andrus is married to Sheila Andrus, the former acting director of the Sparkman Center at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

's School of Public Health. They have two daughters, Chloé and Pilar. In October 2024, The Episcopal Church restricted Andrus' ministry to investigate an allegation of having an inappropriate relationship with an adult.

References

External links

Episcopal Diocese of California official website

"My Spiritual Practice and the Climate Crisis"
''Spiral Magazine'', 2020
"At UN climate conference, Episcopal delegation urges nations to act swiftly and justly"
Episcopal News Service, December 12, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrus, Marc Handley 1956 births Episcopal bishops of Alabama Episcopal bishops of California Living people Virginia Theological Seminary alumni People from Oak Ridge, Tennessee People from Kingston, Tennessee

Life, education and ministry

See also

References

External links