The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop Diocesan
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates
Bishop Gates is the 16th bishop diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
He is a Massachusetts native and graduate of Middlebury College. Prior to seminary he was a Russian language translator, researcher and intelligence analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense, including a tour of duty at the State Department. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and was ordained to the priesthood in 1988.
He served congregations in the Episcopal dioceses of Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts and Chicago prior to his call to Ohio in 2004. He was the rector of St. Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights until his election as bishop in 2014. Bishop Gates was ordained and consecrated a bishop on Sept. 13, 2014.
Bishop Gates is currently on the Dean's Advisory Board of the Boston University School of Theology, as well as the board of the Anglican Theological Review. He serves on the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on World Mission, and is a member of Bishops United Against Gun Violence.
He and his spouse, Patricia J. Harvey, have two adult children.
Read Bishop Gates's full bio here.
Follow him on Instagram: @massbishopxvi.
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, Bishop Suffragan
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris
Bishop Harris was ordained and consecrated a bishop in January 2003, and serves as a suffragan (assisting) bishop alongside the diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates.
A native of Cleveland, she graduated from Lewis and Clark College and holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, which awarded her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 2002. She was ordained to the priesthood in 1982, and served parishes in the dioceses of Newark, Washington (D.C.) and Rochester (New York) prior to her consecration as bishop.
She currently chairs the House of Bishops Pastoral Development Committee and is the convenor of the Episcopal Bishops of African Descent. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Church Investment Group and is on the Task Force on the Theology of Money.
In the Diocese of Massachusetts she is on the board of the Old North Church Foundation and serves as vice president of Episcopal City Mission. She is the past president of the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
Read Bishop Harris's full bio here.
Bishop Harris has announced her upcoming retirement as bishop suffragan. She will complete her work in the Diocese of Massachusetts as of Dec. 31, 2022, and then take sabbatical time off ahead of her official retirement date of March 31, 2023.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Carol J. Gallagher, Assistant Bishop
Bishop Carol J. Gallagher began as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Massachusetts on Feb. 1, 2023.
Courtesy photo
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Carol J. Gallagher
Prior to her appointment as assistant bishop, she served the diocese, since November 2018, as a regional canon, providing transition ministry with congregations and clergy involved in search processes for new ordained leadership, along with lay leadership development and clergy wellness support for the congregations of the diocese's Central Region.
Bishop Gallagher, who is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, previously served as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Montana, beginning in 2014, developing relationships with Native leaders and congregations there, educating and training clergy and lay leaders in issues of race, gender and inclusion, and leading the Task Force on Native Issues.
She brings a passion for training and formation for all the baptized and for using her skills in culture, leadership development, pastoral care, and faith and relationship to empower others.
She served for six years prior to her ministry in the Diocese of Montana as assisting bishop in the Diocese of North Dakota and for two years as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Newark. She was ordained and consecrated bishop suffragan in the Diocese of Southern Virginia in 2002 and served there until 2005.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in writing and communications from Antioch College, a Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School, a Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware.
She is married to Mark Gallagher and has three daughters and three grandchildren.
Read Bishop Gallagher's full bio here.