Northwestern Pennsylvania diocese elects Jenifer Chatfield as its ninth bishop

Northwestern Pennsylvania Bishop-elect Jenifer Chatfield. Photo: Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania

[Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania] The Rev. Jenifer Chatfield, rector of St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church in San Marino, California, was elected the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania on Aug. 8 during a special electing convention held at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie, where the diocese is based.

Chatfield was elected on the third ballot with 24 clergy and 31 lay votes, with a majority of 18 and 31, respectively, required for election. Pending churchwide consent, she will be ordained and consecrated as bishop diocesan on Dec. 12 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

“Today, after prayerful work and holy discernment, we give thanks for the election of the Rev. Dr. Jenifer Chatfield and her willingness to serve as the ninth bishop diocesan of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania,” said the Rev. Martha Ishman, president of the diocesan Standing Committee. “[Chatfield] is grounded in her relationship to God and is eager to explore with us what it means to be the church in this place and at this time.”

Chatfield has served at St. Edmund’s since 2019. She previously served as priest-in-charge of St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church in Huntington Beach, California, and as interim rector of St. James’ in-the-City Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. She has a doctor of ministry degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and a master of divinity from Yale Divinity School.

The other nominees were:

• The Very Rev. Molly Payne-Hardin, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Watertown, New York.
• The Rev. Stacey Fussell, rector of Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Chatfield will succeed Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, who resigned as Northwestern Pennsylvania’s bishop in 2024 after he was elected and confirmed as primate of The Episcopal Church.

As bishop diocesan of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Rowe also served as bishop provisional of Western New York. In 2025, the two dioceses decided to part ways rather than maintain their six-year partnership. The Diocese of Western New York, after a pause in the process, plans to release its bishop slate in March 2027. 

In an Aug. 9 Facebook post, the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania called for prayers for Chatfield, St. Edmund’s congregation and the diocese. “May God continue to guide and bless this new chapter in the life of our diocese.”