Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher was named Bishop of the Illinois Area in 1996 and is in her second quadrennial term as Episcopal leader.

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Bishop Christopher understands herself to be a pilgrim on a journey of loving God and neighbor and invites the church to join her on the journey so that no child will go to bed physically or spiritually hungry.

Bishop Christopher was ordained deacon in 1970 and elder in 1972 in the Wisconsin Annual Conference. She served pastorates in Wisconsin from 1969 to 1986, before becoming assistant to Bishop David Lawson in 1986. In 1988, she was elected bishop by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference and was assigned to the Minnesota Annual Conference from 1988 to 1996.

She is married to the Rev. Charles Logsdon Christopher and has two grown children. She is a graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. You can email Bishop Christopher at ILAreaUMC@aol.com.