The Rev. Joe Tyler Mitchell joined the Advocate as Rector, Time-Certain (aka Priest-In-Charge) in October, 2024.
A native of the coalfields of Appalachia, Joe+ grew up attending a small parish, All Saints Episcopal Church, in Norton, VA (Diocese of Southwestern Virginia), where he was baptized, confirmed, and sponsored for ordination. He is a rare breed among clergy these days: a cradle Episcopalian!
He attended undergrad at Centre College in Kentucky, a small liberal arts school where he majored in theater and history and played baseball for all four years. After a short foray into coaching on the collegiate level at the University of Pikeville, he felt the call to the priesthood, which first took him to St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church in Aiken, SC (Diocese of Upper South Carolina) as their Director of Youth for two years, and then on to General Theological Seminary, where he earned his M.Div. and graduated in 2012.
While at General, Joe+ coordinated the seminary’s homeless shelter and interned at Trinity Church, Wall Street, where he led a Bible study with participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement, organized the parish’s Brown Bag feeding ministry, and first introduced his Episcopal 101 class, which he has continued to offer in every place where he has served.
After being ordained to the diaconate by The Rt. Rev. Neff Powell, he served as curate at Christ Church Cathedral (Diocese of Lexington) in Kentucky and was ordained a priest in 2013. While there he helped establish the Cathedral Young Adults ministry and was in charge of the campus ministry at St. Augustine’s Chapel at the University of Kentucky.
In 2015 he first came to the Diocese of North Carolina as Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Asheboro. In addition to serving the only Episcopal congregation in Randolph County, he played key roles on the diocesan Liturgy Committee – where he and Lisa Fischbeck+ were in charge of figuring out how to do Communion during COVID! – as well as the Bishops’ Committee on Prison Ministry and the Mission Resource Support Team.
In 2018 he married Kristen Leigh Southworth, a singer-songwriter from Greensboro who had also studied in New York City at Union Theological Seminary, graduating top of her class. Together they form the indestructible Team Kroe!
After eight years in Asheboro, Joe+ and Kristen moved to Skaneateles, New York, where he served as Interim Rector of St. James’ Church (Diocese of Central New York) until he was called back home to North Carolina at the behest of Bishop Sam Rodman to serve here at the Advocate.
Joe+ shares many of the Advocate’s values, including a passion for liturgy, social justice, and community engagement. Having grown up in a small church that, like the Advocate, had only one priest and no additional staff, Joe+ feels right at home here. Kristen, who assisted with a paperless singing workshop at the Advocate years ago, is also excited to be back in the diocese, where she plans to lead retreats, provide spiritual direction, and work with our bishops on creating new formation opportunities for adults.
Joe+ is a cancer and transplant survivor – thank you to the amazing doctors at Duke! – and still plays baseball when he can. He is an avid Transformers collector, with more than 450 figures at last count, and enjoys having tournaments of retro video games and disc golf with Kristen (and yes, they do keep score!). When not hanging out at the Advocate, the Mitchells live in Durham.
Unlike Lisa+, who was our founding Vicar, and Marion+, who was our first Rector, Joe+’s role as Rector, Time-Certain is a three-year commitment during which time he and the congregation will engage in mutual discernment. If, after that time, it is the will of the Holy Spirit that he remain with us, Joe+ will become the second Rector of the Advocate.