Winnie Varghese

The Very Reverend Winnie Sara Varghese (born May 28, 1972) is an American Episcopal priest who has served as the 12th Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City since 2025. She is the first woman and person of color to hold this position.

Early life and education Varghese was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, to parents who immigrated from Kerala, India.

Although raised in the Episcopal Church, Varghese did not become fully invested in the faith until college, when she took a course on women in the Hebrew Bible. She was ordained as a priest on January 8, 2000. She returned to the Los Angeles Diocese, working as a chaplain at UCLA and at a church in west Los Angeles. As rector, Varghese pushed to update the building to ensure accessibility for wheelchair users. After leaving St. Mark's, Varghese served as a priest for ministry and program coordination at Trinity Church in New York City. to 2025.

Other roles Varghese is a co-founder and director of Enfleshing Witness: Rewilding Otherwise Preaching. This initiative, funded by the Lilly Endowment via St. Luke’s Church in Atlanta, supports Black, Indigenous and otherwise racially minoritized preachers in developing their preaching practices.

In 2023, Varghese helped the Episcopal Diocese of New York develop a credit union that serves New Yorkers with a goal of expanding access to financial services for low-income households and others who may struggle to be welcomed by traditional banks. Her support for the idea was driven by her experience with a credit union established by the Diocese of Los Angeles in the 1990s.

Varghese has served as a trustee of Episcopal Divinity School (2013−2016) and Union Theological Seminary (2019−2025), and chaired the Committee on the State of the Church of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (2015−2018). Union Theological Seminary said in 2025 that "Varghese has become one of the most prominent religious voices for justice and inclusion in our time."

Awards include: Auburn Theological Seminary Lives of Commitment Award, 2019 City & State Community Engagement Power 50, 2021 Metropolitan College of New York, Doctor of Humane Letters, June 2019

Personal life Varghese came out as queer at the age of 17. She has two children and is married to a woman. Her brother is the comic Paul Varghese.

Publications

Church Meets World (New York: Church Publishing, 2016) Series: Church's Teachings for a Changing World

One Single ACT: Gestures of Kindness, Compassion, and Courage That Change Us and the World (Morehouse, 2026)