The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee elected the Reverend Colin Moore Ambrose as its twelfth bishop on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville. Fr. Ambrose was elected on the third ballot, receiving the required two-thirds in both clergy and lay orders on the same ballot.
Bishop-elect Ambrose greeted the convention via an audio message minutes after his election was announced, saying, “I am overwhelmed. Incredibly overwhelmed and humbled by this call, and I accept it with great joy.”
When ordained and consecrated on April 10, 2027, Bishop-elect Ambrose will succeed the Right Reverend John C. Bauerschmidt, who is retiring after leading the diocese since 2006. “Bishop Bauerschmidt, thank you for your faithful leadership and for all you’ve given to this diocese. It will be an honor to follow you and to build on all that you have begun,” Bishop-elect Ambrose said.
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Bishop-elect Ambrose received his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following college, he worked with Lehman Brothers in New York as a financial analyst and then spent five years as managing partner of a construction and remodeling company he co-founded in Chapel Hill. After discerning a call to ministry, he earned his Master of Divinity, cum laude, from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2009.
His ministry in the Diocese of Tennessee began at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he served as Priest Associate and then as Interim Priest before being called to St. George’s, Nashville, in 2019, where he currently serves as Vice-Rector and Chief of Staff.
Bishop-elect Ambrose is married to Trisha, and the Ambroses have three children.
Sharing his thoughts about the future, Bishop-elect Ambrose said, “As I shared, this diocese is home […] I look forward to sharing this life with all of you, being with you in your congregations, worshiping with you, praying with you, serving with you, and discerning together what God is making possible among us.”
The other nominees were the Reverend Brian Cannaday, Canon to the Ordinary, the Diocese of Dallas, and the Reverend D. Andy Olivo, Rector of St. Elizabeth’s Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey.
The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee encompasses 40 of the 41 counties in Middle Tennessee, serving 43 congregations and other mission outposts, comprising approximately 15,000 Episcopalians.