Bishop Susan
The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook is the chief pastor of our diocese. She is the apostolic leader in mission, evangelism and spiritual formation. She represents the diocese to the wider church and the wider church to the diocese.
Credit: Susan L. Forsburg Photography
Biography
The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook is a leader in the areas of evangelism, church growth, church planting, and new mission development. Before entering seminary, she worked as a certified public accountant, and as a director of Christian education and a director of lay ministries at an Episcopal church in Arizona.
In 2006, the bishop of Arizona called her to plant a church in the northern suburbs of Phoenix and Scottsdale. From 2006 to 2017, she served as the church planter, vicar, and then rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale, leading it through a process of growth to a program-sized parish and through a building process that created a permanent home for the vibrant congregation.
Bishop Susan is passionate about evangelism – proclaiming the good news of Jesus – and about developing thriving churches that transform lives in their communities. She is also passionate about sharing God’s love with all God’s people through ministries of service and social justice, including supporting the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the church.
Bishop Susan authored God Gave the Growth: Church Planting in the Episcopal Church and co-edited Acts to Action: The New Testament’s Guide to Evangelism and Mission. She co-founded the Acts 8 Movement, a group dedicated to proclaiming resurrection in the Episcopal Church. In 2018 Presiding Bishop Michael Curry appointed her to a six-year term on the board of Forward Movement.
Bishop Susan has been married for over 30 years to her husband, Tom Snook, and they have two grown daughters, Sarah and Julia.
Personal Statistics
1962 Born in Neubrucke, West Germany
1983 Graduated from Rice University, Houston, Texas with a Bachelor of Arts, English and Managerial Studies
1983 Married Tom Snook
1985 Graduated from Rice University, Houston, Texas with a Master of Accountancy and a Master of Business Administration
1985 – 1996 Employed as a tax consultant with Deloitte & Touche, Werlein & Harris, Margolis, Phipps & Wright
1992 Daughter Sarah born
1995 Daughter Julia born
1997 – 2002 Lay leader at St. Anthony’s, Scottsdale in the areas of Christian education and lay ministries
2003 Graduated from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, California with a Master of Divinity, ordained a priest in the Diocese of Arizona
2003 – 2004 Curate, St. Peter’s, Litchfield Park, Arizona
2004 – 2006 Associate Rector, St. Anthony’s, Scottsdale
2006 – 2017 Rector and Church Planter, Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale
2014 Enrolled in Virginia Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program, working toward completion
2015 First book published, God Gave the Growth: Church Planting in the Episcopal Church
2017 – 2019 Canon to the Ordinary for Church Growth and Development, Diocese of Oklahoma
2019 Ordained and consecrated as fifth bishop, Diocese of San Diego