Background
Andrus was born in 1956 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to Mary Frances and Francis Andrus and was raised in Kingston, Tennessee.
Andrus was born in 1956 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to Mary Frances and Francis Andrus and was raised in Kingston, Tennessee.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Plant Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1979 and a master"s degree in social sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg in 1982.
He was elected after three ballots in a special convention at San Francisco"s Grace Cathedral on May 6, 2006, and was invested as Bishop of California on July 22, 2006. Prior to his election as Bishop of California, Andrus served as a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. After receiving his master"s degree, Andrus went to work as a regional planner for the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission on Virginia"s Delmarva Peninsula.
In 1987, Andrus was awarded a Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.
In 1990, Andrus became the chaplain at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, until 1997 when he became rector of Emmanuel Church in Middleburg, Virginia. He remained there until his consecration as bishop suffragan for the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama on February 7, 2002.
Andrus is married to Sheila Andrus, the former acting director of the Sparkman Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham"s School of Public Health. They have two daughters, Chloe and Pilar.
