"I want to be a voice for the voice-less, speaking for the poor, the forgotten, the disenfranchised, the hopeless."
Sutton, 54, grew up in Washington, where his father owned an auto repair shop and his mother worked for the State Department.
He was raised a Baptist, but at 17 he began exploring other religious traditions, visiting more than 50 churches, from storefronts to cathedrals. He found that the Episcopal Church opened up a side of him that was drawn to contemplation, silence and the beauty of language. He was also captivated by the Gothic architecture in many Episcopal churches, he said, and the sense of awe the arches and soaring ceilings convey.
A tall man with a soothing voice, ready smile and preacher's penchant for drama, he stood and gazed skyward to emphasize his point: "It's a feast for the senses that all draws you up."
"These people get it," the teen decided. "They want people to soar."
Sutton, who has held both academic and pastoral posts in several states, has served as the canon pastor and director of the Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage at the National Cathedral for the past eight years. In that role, he has created a quiet space in the crypt level of the cathedral where people - Christians and others - gather for the ancient practice of meditation (also known as contemplative or silent prayer), a subject he has taught and lectured on widely.
"I like to say the first language of God was silence," Sutton said at the center's suite of rooms in the crypt level of the cathedral. A single candle burned in the still, windowless space, which Sutton describes as the quietest place in Washington.
But while Sutton is well known for his learnedness on contemplation, he is also admired for his charisma, gentle humor and ability to bridge divides, according to colleagues and clergy.
As bishop to 116 parishes and 50,000 members across Baltimore and 10 surrounding counties, he expects to be anything but silent.
The era of privatized faith - the notion that faith is a matter only between an individual and God - needs to be done away with because faith affects everything in life, he said.
"I'm not a political leader or a community organizer, but I get involved in these issues because I'm a pastor," he said.
Two issues he hopes to focus on as bishop are the environment and education.
