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On May 19, 2018, the Rev. Carlye J. Hughes was elected as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Newark on the first ballot. Upon her consecration on September 22, 2018 at NJPAC, she became the first woman and African American to serve as bishop of this diocese.
Bishop Hughes is a life-long Episcopalian, who was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Ft. Worth, Texas. She earned a BA in Drama from the University of Texas in Austin, and for 20 years she made her home in New York City, while pursuing a career in Human Resources as a corporate trainer, mostly in the hotel industry.
While in NYC she discerned a call to the priesthood and attended Virginia Theological Seminary, earning a M.Div. in 2005. After a Lilly Fellowship at St. James’ Church in New York City, she was called to serve as rector first at St. Peter’s Church, Peekskill, NY; and most recently at Trinity Church, Ft. Worth, TX where she was the first African American priest and first woman rector to serve in the Ft. Worth diocese. She describes her ministry there as one in which she helped others “discover the ways they are called to serve God and God’s people… supporting, encouraging, and empowering them to go and do what God created them to do.” Because, Hughes stated, “Today’s church is not one that can rest on the past while waiting for people to come and ask about the faith. Instead God is guiding us to be active participants in the world. An important element of my ministry… is to nurture and guide our capacity to build relationships with neighbors locally or on the other side of the globe.
Bishop Hughes has been active on the Board of Trustees of The Virginia Theological Seminary; as a member of the Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, Diocesan Convention Chaplain in the Diocese of New York, and in the former Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth as a member of the Standing Committee and as a General Convention Deputy. At the churchwide level, she has served the General Convention on the Task Force on the Study of Marriage and the Racial Justice & Reconciliation.
Bishop Hughes is married to David Smedley.
On February 14, 2024, The Right Reverend Carlye J. Hughes was the preacher at the Commemoration of Absalom Jones at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine service.
August 2026
