The Rt. Rev. Brian Lee Cole is the fifth bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee. He was elected on June 28, 2017, and consecrated on December 2, 2017. Bishop Cole has under his pastoral and administrative care 49 parishes and worshiping communities in East Tennessee and Northern Georgia.
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 at The University of the South School of Theology, Sewanee, in 2001.
Brian is married to Susan Weatherford, a poet, musician, avid gardener, and graduate of Berea College and University of Kentucky. They have one son, Jess, who lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Ordained a priest in 2002, Cole first served as vicar at Church of the Advocate, a homeless ministry 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 at Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. N.C.; Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. He served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church 2006-2012 and on the Executive Committee of the Executive Council 2009-2012. He currently serves as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the House of Bishops.
Brian is an avid reader and has too many books. Most of those books are by or about Thomas Merton. Now a retired trail runner, Brian enjoys hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.