2023 Franklin College Baccalaureate Ceremony

Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, a native of New York City, holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture with a minor in urban studies from Smith College (1988), an M.A. in historic preservation planning from Cornell University (1992), and an M.Div. degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in 1997. Before being elected bishop in 2016, she served in the Dioceses of Newark, Central New York, California, and Chicago. She is the first black woman to be elected a diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Baskerville-Burrows has expertise in the areas of historic preservation of religious buildings, race and class reconciliation, food justice and health, and spiritual direction. She has contributed chapters to over half a dozen books including, Realizing Beloved Community, Gathering the NeXt Generation, What Shall We Become, and she is featured in the book, This Band of Sisterhood.

Among the many board and leadership seats she currently holds are the Boards of Partners for Sacred Places, Indiana Landmarks, Bexley-Seabury Seminary, and the House of Bishops Theology Committee. Having been mentored throughout her vocation in the church, Bishop Jennifer is often a coach to new bishops and serves on the faculty of the Episcopal College for Bishops.

She is an accomplished distance runner and triathlete and a passionate chef and baker. She and her husband, Harrison Burrows, are parents to Timothy.