Okay, picture this: you’re standing in a room full of people who don’t agree on anything—except maybe that brunch is better with mimosas. Now imagine you’re the one person who has to keep them all inspired and hopeful without anyone throwing a croissant at your head. That’s basically Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s day job, except she’s not serving brunch—she’s serving justice and truth like a boss.
Born in 1959 in New Jersey (because of course, she’s from Jersey—only a Jersey girl could bring this much energy to the pulpit), Budde has been showing the world how to combine faith and fight since way before it was cool. She went to the University of Rochester, graduated magna cum laude in history, and then thought, “You know what’s missing from my life? A couple more fancy degrees.” So, she snagged a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary. Basically, she’s got more credentials than your cousin Steve’s LinkedIn page, and unlike Steve, she’s actually doing something with them.
Fast-forward to 1993, when she became the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. That’s 18 years of making church cool again in the land of hotdish and Prince. And just when you thought she couldn’t level up any further, she became the first female diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in 2011. Translation? She’s the Beyoncé of bishops—breaking barriers, slaying patriarchy, and probably making a killer playlist for choir practice.
But here’s where she really takes the stage: in 2018, she led the service to inter Matthew Shepard’s ashes at the Washington National Cathedral. Remember Matthew Shepard? The young gay man whose tragic murder in 1998 woke a nation up to the horrors of LGBTQ+ hate crimes? Yeah, Bishop Budde didn’t just lead the service; she used it to drop some truth bombs about love, inclusion, and, you know, basic human decency. She said LGBTQ+ folks are beloved children of God not “in spite of who they are” but because of who they are. Mic drop. Cue standing ovation. And probably a few tears, because, let’s face it, we’re all human.
But wait—there’s more. This woman is like a social justice Swiss Army knife. Racial injustice? She’s on it. Gun violence? She’s had it. Immigrants getting a raw deal? She’s not here for that nonsense. And when she’s not busy fighting the good fight, she’s calling out people in power, like that time she told a certain orange-tinted ex-president to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ+ folks. Spoiler alert: she didn’t mean “mercy” like “give them a break.” She meant “mercy” like “stop making their lives harder because that’s not what decent people do.”
And sure, some people got mad about it. But did Bishop Budde back down? Nope. She basically said, “Yeah, I said it. Wanna fight about it?” Except she said it way more eloquently because, you know, bishop. Her words were like a holy version of “Come at me, bro,” and honestly, we should all aspire to that level of fearless.
So here’s the deal: Mariann Edgar Budde isn’t just a bishop. She’s a truth-telling, barrier-breaking, compassion-spreading powerhouse who’s making the world better one sermon at a time. And if anyone’s got a problem with that, well, they can take it up with her boss upstairs. Spoiler: he’s on her side.
