Editor’s note: Every Wednesday, from March 4 until April 1, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will host religious leaders for its annual Thorne Sparkman lecture series. Ahead of each lecture, the Times Free Press offers a conversation with the speaker as part of the weekly “Religion: Got Questions?” series.
The Rt. Rev. Phoebe Roaf is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee, a position she began in November 2019. Roaf’s election made her the first woman and the first African American to lead the diocese. Before joining the clergy, Roaf earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, then clerked for two years for the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
What will your lecture on Wednesday be about? How did you choose that topic?
“The focus of the series is about building peace. I decided that before I can focus on peace outside of myself, it begins with me being clear about being peaceful within myself. For example, externally, things can be peaceful but if, internally, I’ve got some chaos or disunity or unsettledness, then I’m not going to be a peaceful presence wherever I go. So my talk is going to focus on some of the practices and the things that I have done to be centered within myself, so that regardless of the external circumstances of my life, I can have a sense of calm.”